What A Nice Surprise
by DarkNymfa
Summary: A ghost and two ghost hunters, sitting around. Like a family. Which they were, but, well. The other two didn't know that. - Aka the (very fluffy) story of how the Fentons accidentally adopt their own son. (sequel to Make It Go Away)
1. Chapter 1

A sequel to Make It Go Away, set in the same "nobody knows" AU. I was gonna make it another one-shot but then I realized that pacing worked better if I split it. I might end up adding more chapters if I expand on this AU, since it's well-received and I don't want to keep posting sequels. :U

I don't know when the next chapter will be done/posted, though. As I said, I work on this whenever I feel like, as opposed to Disinterred which has an actual schedule.

Also! If you like my writing, please check out my DP Tumblr (inky-interest). I post a lot about my progress, and sometimes I open up for requests. Including right now!

* * *

The doorbell rang.

Jack paused, half-finished gadget still in his hand, and glanced at Maddie. She returned his look and shrugged.

The doorbell rang again, its shrill tone echoing throughout the house. It lasted longer than the first time. Like the person ringing it was getting impatient.

They weren't expecting any guests, and the kids weren't supposed to come home from school for another two hours or so. Even with the constant ghost attacks, school rarely let them out early. Besides, if it was one of their children, they would've just let themselves in, no?

The doorbell rang a third time.

Jack sighed, dropping the partially-assembled invention on the table he was sitting at. He pushed away from said table with a scrape, lumbering up the stairs.

When he swung open the front door, however, he was greeted by… nothing? Literally nothing.

He frowned, leaning out the door to look around. Was someone playing a prank on him, his family? But no, if that was the case they would've stuck around, right? And the street was empty, with no convenient hiding places from where they could've watched.

"Hello?" he called out, wondering who rung the bell. Might've been a ghost, actually. He silently cursed Maddie and the kids for finally breaking him out of the habit of answering the door with an ectogun, and made to turn away.

Only to freeze in place when a ghost flickered into visibility. Not long enough for curious bystanders to see, but long enough for Jack to see, to _know_.

"Hi," the ghost answered, voice hoarse and rasping.

Mutely, Jack stepped aside to let the specter in. A cold breeze swept past him, and he closed the door again.

Once more, the ghost became visible, hovering so close to the ground that the toes of his boots grazed the tips of the carpet.

He looked bad, _but_, Jack thought to himself, not as bad as last time. Ectoplasm was running down his right arm, where he was trying to block it with his left hand, with little success. Several other cuts and slices were visible scattered across Phantom's body, but most were already visibly mending.

The ghost looked exhausted, however. Dark bags under his dull green eyes, and his bright aura had dampened considerably. It continued to flicker, like a flame assaulted by a relentless breeze.

Jack laid his hand on Phantom's shoulders, and carefully guided him to the lab. The ghost dropped the last inch or so he had been hovering, and instead trudged along with Jack. His normally snowy-white hair was gray with dust, the locks even messier than normal.

The ghost stumbled while walking down the stairs, and Jack barely managed to grab Phantom's hand before he fell. He pulled the ghost back, before hooking his other arm under Phantom's legs and lifting him up.

The ghost protested weakly, but made no moves to stop Jack.

The noise had alerted Maddie, and she stood in the lab, ready to receive them. The moment she saw Phantom her expression softened considerably, and she smiled at him.

He waved at her, a shy grin on his face. "Y-You said..." The ghost paused for a moment, trying to catch a raspy breath. "That I was a-always welcome here. Right?"

"Of course sweetie," Maddie said, sincerely. "What do you need us to do?"

"Uhm, well," Phantom shifted in Jack's arms, and the man was abruptly reminded that he was still holding the ghost. He quickly sat Phantom on a table, where he slumped in on himself but remained somewhat upright.

The specter then nodded his head in the direction of his right arm. "I kinda hurt my arm, and I think it needs stitches. But I, uh. I can't really do them with my left hand."

Jack had sped off to grab the first aid kit the moment he had let go of Phantom, and thus had it ready the moment Phantom stopped talking. He offered it to Maddie, who rolled her eyes but grabbed the needle and thread anyway.

"We'll take care of it," she said as she went to disinfect the needle. Jack, meanwhile, had put down the kit and grabbed the disinfectant.

He crouched next to the table that Phantom was sitting on, holding up the spray for Phantom to see. The ghost understood the silent signal, because he unzipped his jumpsuit and shrugged it off, once more revealing his collection of injuries and scars.

Subconsciously, Jack's eyes trailed towards the injury that they had stitched up last time. And there, right underneath Phantom's ribs, on his right side, was a neat scar. It had healed up perfectly. He wasn't sure how Phantom had taken out the thread (intangibility, probably), but it had done its job.

So Jack allowed himself to focus, instead, on Phantom's new injuries. There were several scattered around his body, but like Jack had noted when the ghost first became visible, they were already healing up. They likely didn't need any tending to.

More critical was the deep slice in Phantom's upper arm. The flesh underneath the slice sagged under its own weight, revealing the sickly ectoplasm-green flesh underneath. It resembled human musculature far too closely for comfort. And even though they had already known how _human_ Phantom's anatomy was, to see it like this… It was unnerving.

At the deepest point of the incision something solid gleamed, and despite its ectoplasmic coloration blending into the flesh around it, Jack was sure that it was bone.

He carefully cleaned the injury, ignoring Phantom's hissing breaths and sharp inhalations.

Looking more closely at the ghost, however, he noticed something off. The jumpsuit had hidden it, more or less, but now with his shoulders bare, Jack noticed it. A groove in Phantom's chest, misshaping his shoulder. It also hung lower than its counterpart.

"Hey, Phantom," he said, making sure to keep his voice gentle. "I think your shoulder might be dislocated. We'll need to fix that immediately, before it swells up. Is that okay?"

"Huh?" the ghost answered, eloquently. Then he looked at the injury that Jack was pointing at, and grimaced. "Ah, so that's why it hurt so much. Uh, yeah, please fix it."

"Alright. Can you lie down on your own, or do you need a hand?" Jack kept his voice as gentle as possible. Most people didn't think he _could _be gentle, but he was fine with that. He didn't really care about what other people thought of him.

"I can do it myself, I think." Phantom swung his legs onto the table, making sure to keep his weight exclusively on his lower body and left hand. Then he carefully lowered himself until he laid on his back.

Jack nodded, then took hold of Phantom's right arm. "I have to pull your arm to make your shoulder pop back into its place, okay? It should be easy to tell when it works, and the pain should decrease, too." He smiled at the ghost, hoping to calm Phantom's nerves. "We'll still need to immobilize it with a sling afterwards, at least for the time being."

"Ugh," Phantom groaned, but he didn't move to stop Jack from relocating his shoulder. As Jack started pulling on Phantom's arm, the boy continued to speak. "I can't go out wearing a sling. The public can't see me like that, and the other ghosts _definitely_ shouldn't see it."

"So stay here a little longer," Maddie offered, finally returning to the table. "You left in quite a hurry last time, and I'm sure that there's much we learn from you."

Phantom made a pained expression, but Jack wasn't sure if it was because the relocating was painful, or because of what Maddie had just said. So he smiled disarmingly at the boy, trying to soothe him. "Last time you disproved a lot of our research without even trying. So we're trying to do better, and, well. Some first-hand accounts from an actual ghost would be a real help."

"Oh," the ghost said. Then he grunted, as his shoulder slipped into the right place with a meaty _clunk_. "Uh, I guess that that makes sense."

Jack stood up to fetch supplies to make a sling. Maddie took his place, dragging a seat over with her foot so she could perch right next to Phantom. "So that's a yes, then?"

Phantom looked like he was going to shrug but then thought better of it. He tried to push himself upright with his left hand, and Maddie was quick to help when he almost collapsed. "I mean, yeah? It's the least I could do in return for your help, right?" He shot her a boyish grin. "Plus, if you're changing your mind on how _evil_ ghosts are, then who am I to stop you?"

Jack returned to the table, deftly putting together Phantom's sling. He made sure to keep the upper arm free, so Maddie could stitch up the injury more easily. "Well, I'm glad to hear so!"

"Thanks," Phantom said, although Jack wasn't sure _what_, exactly, the ghost was thanking him for. "Uh, is there anything specific you want to know about?"

"Well," Maddie said as she stuck the needle into his upper arm, drawing a hiss from the ghost. "I guess the Ghost Zone would be a good place to start. We've never been there, besides the brief stint during the whole Ghost King debacle."

"Oh yeah." Phantom made an annoyed face. "That was a whole mess, for sure. Uh, what do you want to know, then? Appearance, how it works, social etiquette?" His voice gradually grew softer as he spoke, trailing off into silence.

"Ghosts have social etiquette?" Jack asked, frowning. He had always imagined ghosts as inherently violent creatures, with Phantom as a rare exception. The concept that they had an actual _society_ with _rules_ was one he struggled to grasp.

"Well, kinda. There are some general rules, but for the most part the Ghost Zone is a ruleless wasteland." Phantom hummed, clearly thinking hard. "I guess that the main purely _social_ rule is that you shouldn't pick fights with ghosts in their lairs. If they start it, that's fine, but otherwise it's kind of looked down upon." He scratched his cheek, then shrugged with his left shoulder. "The only actual rule I can think of is the Christmas Truce. Like I said, not a lot of actual rules in the Zone."

"The Christmas Truce?" Maddie quirked a brow at Phantom, not taking her eyes off of the stitching she was doing. "What does that involve, exactly?"

"Oh, uh. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest." Phantom grinned sheepishly. "I… haven't been a ghost for very long. My only Christmas so far has been last year, and I only learned about the Truce because another ghost attacked me. Then a bunch of my enemies worked together with me to fight that guy off, because he broke _the_ rule of the Zone." His expression somehow became _even more_ sheepish. "It was kind of my fault, to be honest. And his intentions had been okay, even if I don't agree with the way he went about it. I would've tried to get him released from prison, except that Walker frigging hates me."

"Is Walker a ghost we've seen before?" Jack had grabbed a notepad to write down everything they learned from Phantom, and he was glad for it already. He was having trouble processing everything Phantom had told them so far, and already found himself distracted by small details.

"He's caused trouble in Amity before, yeah. But I'm not sure if anybody has seen him." Phantom sighed deeply. "He was responsible for that first ghost invasion. It was a distraction so he and a bunch of his minions could overshadow some of the townspeople. He's also responsible for the whole thing with me kidnapping the major, he framed me for it. Walker was overshadowing Montez the whole time."

"Is that… why you shot at us?" Maddie pulled the needle through Phantom's skin again. "Because you thought we were overshadowed?"

"Yeah," Phantom admitted with a groan. "The rays should've knocked the ghosts out of you guys, but you weren't overshadowed. I played right into his hand."

"But why would he do that? What good did it do for him?" Jack frowned, trying unsuccessfully to figure out why _anyone_ would do such a thing.

Phantom snorted disdainfully. "He wanted the town to hate me, and that's exactly what he got. I kind of… escaped from his prison, before. So he decided to turn Amity against me, to make it my new prison."

"Why did he arrest you in the first place? I thought the Ghost Zone had virtually no rules?" Jack studied the ghost sitting on the table, wondering what the teen could've done to warrant Walker's anger.

"Yeah," Phantom scoffed. "Walker makes up his own rules and then arrests you for breaking them. I had a 'real world' item with me in the Ghost Zone, and he decided that that was against the rules and arrested me for it." He rolled his eyes. "Really, word of advice if you're ever planning on going into the Zone: avoid the prison, and avoid the huge white ghost wearing a fedora."

"Duly noted," Jack said with a grin. "Got any more advice?"

"About going into the Zone?" Phantom frowned, thoughtfully. "Avoid the bigger islands in general, they're usually lairs belonging to powerful or dangerous ghosts. The only ones I don't avoid are the Far Frozen and the Kingdom of Aragon, but that's because they're my allies. Most of the others are bad news, honestly."

Maddie pulled the needle through his skin a last time, tying off the thread. "You're allied with the leader of a kingdom? And the Far Frozen doesn't sound very hospitable to me, either."

Phantom grinned at her. "Yeah, I'm friends with Queen Dorathea of Aragon. She was a princess when we first met, but I helped her overthrow her brother so now she's the leader. As for the Far Frozen, well." He shrugged. "I mentioned Frostbite and his people last time, right?"

"The ghosts that worship you?" Jack asked. "They live in a place called the Far Frozen?"

"Wait, hold on," Maddie said as she raised a hand. "Why would you help a ghost overthrow her brother? That doesn't seem very… good."

"Oh no, King Aragon was a piece of crap." Phantom scowled. "The guy was pretty much stuck in the Middle Ages, and forcibly kept his kingdom that way, too. Believed that women weren't equal to men, and all that. He was super controlling over Dora, too."

"Now that sounds more like you." Maddie smiled, ruffling Phantom's hair. The ghost blushed, looking away from them.

"Yeah kid, I gotta agree with Mads on that. Now, as much as I'm enjoying this..." A loud grumble emitted from Jack's stomach, and he grinned as the others turned to look at him. "How about some food?"

"Sounds good," Phantom agreed, carefully putting the jumpsuit back on. "I kind of skipped lunch to fight some ghosts."

"Phantom," Maddie scolded. "You should take better care of yourself."

"Ugh, you sound like my mom," the ghost complained, rolling his eyes. Jack caught the sparkle in his eyes and the lopsided smirk on his face, and was sure that Phantom had just told a joke that both of the humans missed. He wasn't sure _what_ that would've been, though. "But I'll try, okay?"

"Be sure to do so, kiddo." Jack helped Phantom slip into his right sleeve, making sure that the sling was still strung right. "If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of the city."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Phantom admitted, pushing himself off of the table. "You wanna take the notepad with you so we can continue our little talk?"

"Ooh, sounds good." Jack grabbed the notepad again, then offered a hand to the ghost. "Can you walk, or should I carry you again?"

"I'll walk, but thanks." Phantom grinned at him, then started making his way to the stairs. He went slow, but surprisingly steady.

* * *

Their belated lunch had been a mostly quiet affair. Much like last time, Danny and Jack were too occupied with stuffing their faces to talk much. Maddie had apparently been content to sit and watch, reading through the notes Jack had taken so far.

"So," Danny started, before swallowing away the last of his lunch. "Did you want to talk about the Zone some more, or are we moving on to a different topic?" Then he glanced over at the clock and grimaced. "You'll have to pick one for now, I can't stay for much longer."

"Why not?" Jack asked in-between bites of his lunch.

"I, uh." Danny hesitated, considering his options. He couldn't tell them that he had to get back to school, even if that _was_ the reason he had to leave. And he couldn't tell them that he had to check in with people who might get worried about him, because they already knew he had no else. He sighed. "Sorry, I can't say. It's… personal."

"Oh." Jack's expression fell, and Danny felt a stab of guilt at the disappointment in his dad's voice. He heard it far too often nowadays, with his lackluster performance at school.

"Well, in that case…" Maddie started as she opened the notebook again. "As interesting as the Ghost Zone is, I think it would be best to stick with general knowledge for now." Maddie flipped to a new page in the notepad. "Anything we could use to help protect Amity from malevolent ghosts would be best."

Danny nodded, but mentally complimented his mom on her good choice. Besides the fact that there honestly wasn't much he could tell about the Zone (since he didn't spend a lot of time there), prioritizing the city was a choice he agreed with.

"Uh, sure. Although I'm… not sure what I could tell you that would help." He shrugged, shooting them a sheepish smile. "I know plenty about the specific ghosts that attack Amity, how to fight them and stuff, but not much in general. But I _do_ know that almost all ghosts around here are malevolent. Non-violent ghosts usually avoid the city because they don't want to get shot."

"But how can you be sure?" Maddie looked up from the notepad to quirk a brow at him. "Unless you attack every ghost that enters the city?"

"Of course not," Danny scoffed. "I approach them first. If they don't immediately attack, I ask them why they're here. And, if their intentions are alright, I help them." He shrugged. "Usually if they're malevolent they lash out immediately."

Jack swallowed audibly, then leaned forward, intrigued. "What about ghosts that have previously attacked the city? Do you immediately attack them when you see them?"

"Depends." Danny shrugged. "If they're not causing trouble when I get there I check them out. Sometimes they don't mean harm, or they've changed their minds."

Jack sat back again, finally finishing his lunch. "Do you ever let ghosts roam free in Amity?"

"Not often," Danny admitted with another shrug. "But sometimes, yeah. They never stay long, and they let me know when they leave. And I regularly check in on them, too."

"Then it might be a good idea to let us know which ones we should avoid hunting." His mom lowered her notepad to look at him properly. "A ghost that made a deal with you might pick a fight with us if we show up."

"If they do it's their fault. I tell them to avoid ghost hunters, and it's pretty easy for most of them." He crossed his arms. "Besides, most of the ghosts I make deals with _also_ sometimes cause trouble. I can give you a list of all my allies though, so you can avoid hunting those."

"That'll work," Maddie agreed with a nod. She lowered her eyes to the notepad again, ready to write down the ghosts he listed.

"Well, let's see." Danny frowned in thought. "I obviously already mentioned Frostbite and his yeti's, since they worship me. They basically never leave the Zone, but they're pretty recognizable. Big, white, furry, ice horns." He mimicked the shape of horns with his fingers. "And I also already mentioned Queen Dora, the blue-skinned princess with an amulet that lets her turn into a dragon. She also never leaves the Zone. Similar to her is Pandora, who _also_ never leaves her part of the Ghost Zone. I haven't known her for very long, though. She's really tall, blue skin, four arms."

He rubbed his chin, continuing to run through his list of ghosts. "There's Wulf, giant bipedal wolf. He rarely stays _in_ the Zone, but he can make his own portals so he tends to avoid Amity. If he _does_ show up, you might need a translator. He doesn't speak English, only Esperanto.

"Speaking of canine ghosts, there's also Cujo. He's a green ghost dog, no smarter than a normal dog so he sometimes causes trouble on accident. About this big, usually," Danny held out his hands to indicate the size of Cujo's puppy form, "except that if he gets angry or upset he turns into a giant dog."

Now that Danny had a chance to think about it, it was honestly kind of sad how few true allies he had. Sure, he had made friends with a number of the ghosts, but most of them rarely left the Ghost Zone. Speaking of allies however…Sidney was one of the few ghosts who actually regularly helped him, but he couldn't mention _that_. After all, he helped Danny with his schoolwork, which wasn't something that _Phantom_ was supposed to bother with. But he had to mention the ghost to make sure his parents didn't target him.

"Sidney Poindexter is also… fairly neutral. He haunts Casper High and sometimes helps ward off bullies. I have a deal with him to make sure he doesn't take it too far, and it's easy to keep an eye on him since I spend a lot of time around the school anyway. Lots of ghosts target it, after all." Yeah, that would work.

"Uh, there's Clockwork. He's an ally, but he never leaves the Clocktower and tends to be busy. Besides, you couldn't catch him anyway." Seeing their incredulous faces, Danny raised a pacifying hand. "No, really. Clockwork can control time. He can appear and disappear without anyone even noticing." And that was all of his allies. There were three more ghosts he usually made deals with, so he might as well mention those too.

"As for ghosts that I have deals with… There's Amorpho, but I made a deal with him so that he would stay _out_ of Amity, so hopefully you won't see him. And there's Johnny 13 and Kitty, who I usually make deals with nowadays. They're the biker ghosts, they usually only come out here on dates." He shrugged, offering a sheepish smile. "And that was about it for semi-friendly ghosts, really."

"That's… kind of sad, kid." And now his dad was frowning, clearly upset. Good going Fenton! Way to make your parents sad without even trying!

"It is what it is," Danny replied with a shrug and a somewhat casual air. "If protecting Amity and its people means that I don't have a lot of friends… So be it."

"Well, you've got us now," Maddie declared, a sharp edge to her tone. She sounded… surprisingly protective, something he would expect to hear as Fenton, not Phantom.

It was… nice, to hear people talk about him like that. Normally it was always one form or the other.

"Thanks." He smiled at them, then glanced at the clock and grimaced again. If he hurried he might make it back in time for his last class.

He pushed himself out of his chair, phasing out of the brace. "Sorry, but I really have to get going. Thanks for all the help, and for… for hearing me out. I can't say how much I appreciate it."

His dad clapped him on the shoulder, making sure to hit the good one. "Of course kiddo. You're always welcome here."

"Yes, what my husband said." Maddie smiled at him. "But try to come by some time _without_ needing stitches, please."

Danny huffed out a laugh. "I'll try. Thank you, and goodbye!" And then he faded from visibility, launching himself out of his chair and towards Casper High.


	2. Chapter 2

This thing just keeps getting longer and longer. I have vague ideas for future chapters (and a more defined plan for the next one) but the characters keep derailing my plans, so idk how long it'll be. As I've said before, this is just a story that I write whenever I feel like it, as opposed to Disinterred. That, and the chapters are longer than Disinterred's.

Also normally I stick to a specific POV per scene, but I kind of... switched from Jack to Maddie in the big scene? And idk how I feel about it, so I would appreciate hearing what you guys think.

* * *

Danny threw another glance at the clock. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl, even more so than what was normal for Lancer's English class. He shoved his leg against his backpack, which was resting on the floor next to his desk. The rounded shape of the Thermos met him in what should be a comforting feeling.

It wasn't. Not after the events of earlier that day, during lunch.

There had been a ghost attack. _Of course_ there had been a ghost attack. Not a big one, nothing he couldn't handle himself.

But Cujo had mistaken the Thermos for a toy. He had lunged for it, and before Danny knew it, Cujo's teeth sunk into the metal of the Thermos.

He immediately distracted the ghost dog, but it had been too late. His fangs had punctured the metal of the Thermos, and an arch between the two punctures showed where the rest of his teeth had met the cylinder's surface as well.

There was nothing he could do to fix it. He had send off Cujo, thanking his luck that at least the dog would be easy to get rid of without any kind of catching technology. But if another ghost showed up… He would be nigh powerless. And while his parents _had_ created different ghost catching devices, none of them were as easy to carry or hide as the Fenton Thermos.

He had already decided that he should pay his parents another visit as Phantom. They didn't know _Fenton_ carried a Thermos, after all. Didn't know that he carried ghost-hunting equipment at all.

Besides… They _had_ asked him to come by without injuries.

Danny just hoped that they had another Thermos. Or maybe they could fix this one, but he highly doubted it. And… This Thermos _had_ been through a lot. Maybe he had just been tempting fate by not looking for a replacement earlier.

The bell rung, snapping Danny out of his thoughts. He swung his backpack on, the cylindrical shape of the Thermos pressing against his back. One of the sharp edges of the punctures dug into his flesh. A constant reminder of how badly it needed to be replaced.

Like he could've forgotten.

He quickly swept by his locker, glancing at the sticky note stuck on the inside of the door. The handwriting was neat and loopy, and anyone who knew him could tell it wasn't his. They usually thought it was Jazz'. Danny was fine with letting them think that.

'_overheard mr. falluca mention a pop quiz tomorrow – check chapter 8'_ the note said. Danny grinned, gratefully. They might not have gotten along well at the start, but Sidney was a good friend to have.

Besides, who else could pass him notes for class by just leaving them in his locker? _Someone_ had to make sure he could keep up with class, with how often he had to leave to fight ghosts. And while Sam and Tucker were fine with playing along at first…

Well, Danny was sure that _he_ would've gotten tired of his secrecy if he had been them, too.

They were still his friends, of course. But he just didn't have much time to hang out with them anymore. And he couldn't tell them the truth. Besides the obvious concern of what they might think… The danger that it would put them in was simply too great. It would make them a target for his enemies.

Besides, Sam would never allow herself to stand by if _he_ was going out to fight ghosts. She would insist on fighting by his side, never mind how dangerous the ghosts were. She would get torn apart.

And Danny couldn't allow that. So he let them think whatever it was that they thought about him. It was safer that way.

After making sure that his math textbook was in his bag, Danny made his way to an empty bathroom. It had been attacked a few time when ghosts first started showing up, leading to rumors of it being haunted. After some encouragement, Sidney had gladly taken to reinforcing those rumors. It had become a perfect spot for Danny to 'go ghost', since no one ever entered it.

Moments after Danny walked in, Sidney flickered into visibility. Danny quirked an eyebrow at him. Usually if Sidney left a note, he wasn't planning on showing up. "Hey Sid, what's up?"

"Found your dog," the boy said with a frown. He lifted up his leg to show Cujo hanging off of it, thankfully in his puppy form. The dog was wagging his tail like crazy.

"Oh, uh. Oops?" Danny grimaced, grabbing Cujo. The dog immediately let go, tongue lolling from his mouth as he panted. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No," Sidney confirmed with a comforting tone. He brushed off his pant leg. "And he was so distracted by me that he didn't hurt anyone else either."

"That's good." Danny looked at the wriggling dog in his hands. He _should_ bring Cujo back to the Ghost Zone. He was already going to FentonWorks as Phantom anyway. But… the dog had an awful tendency to cause trouble wherever he went, and Danny didn't need his feeble truce with his parents to be ruined.

He shot a doubtful look at Sidney. "Hey, Sid. Could you… keep an eye on Cujo for the rest of the day? I need to get a new Thermos from my parents, and I can't take him with me."

"I guess." Sidney sounded as uncertain as Danny felt. He crouched next to the dog, reaching out with his hand. Cujo squinted at the boy ghost, apparently trying to gauge if he was an enemy or not.

Danny set the dog on the ground, keeping a hand on Cujo's back. Then he grabbed Sidney by the wrist, gently putting his hand on Cujo's forehead. "Cujo, this is Sidney. He's a friend, okay?" Then he released Sidney again.

The dog looked unsure, glancing at Danny and then Sidney. Finally he started wagging his tail again, allowing Sidney to pet him.

Danny sighed in relief. That was _one_ problem taken care of, at least.

Sidney grabbed the dog, cradling Cujo in his arms. "Well buster, I guess I'm taking care of you now." Then he stood up, nodding towards Danny. "See you tomorrow."

"Thanks Sid," Danny said as he started rifling through his backpack.

"Don't mention it." And then the ghosts were gone, leaving Danny alone in the bathroom. He was glad that Cujo had accepted Sidney. If the dog showed up again, he might be coaxed into playing with Sidney instead of him.

Besides, if Valerie saw those two hanging out, she might finally understand that Cujo wasn't _his_ dog. Or she would think that Sidney was dog-sitting Cujo for him. Which he was, technically.

Danny's fingers met the sharp edge of the Thermos, and he pulled them away with a hiss. _That's what I get for getting distracted,_ he reprimanded himself mentally.

He pulled out the Thermos, laying it on the floor next to him. Then he closed his backpack again, swinging it on his back. Once he shifted into Phantom, the backpack would be inaccessible. Would cease to exist until he became human again.

In a flash of light he morphed into his ghost form. Grabbed the Thermos, careful not to cut himself on it. And then he shot off towards FentonWorks, making sure to stay invisible.

* * *

The doorbell rang, and Jack automatically looked away from the experiment he and Maddie had been working on.

"Do you think that that's…?" he didn't finish his question, but he knew his wife would know anyway.

"Maybe," she said, pulling her goggles off. "It _has_ been a few weeks since he last came by."

"I hope he hasn't gotten himself injured again." Jack frowned at the partially dismantled invention in front of him.

The two of them had been working on the Booo-merang, hoping to reassemble it to pick up on an actual ghost. In fact, they were hoping to tweak it into picking up Phantom specifically. The first time he had come to them for help, he had barely made it to their house. As much as they disliked it, there was a decent chance of Phantom getting hurt worse. And if he disappeared… There was no one who would look for him. No one who would miss him, not really.

Except them.

So they had to be ready to help. In any way they could. From tweaking their inventions to ignore Phantom's ecto-signature, to building ones specifically intended to help him… Whatever they could do, they _would_.

"He probably has," Maddie said with a sigh. "We better go check."

"Yeah." The Booo-merang could wait. If Phantom was injured, _he_ was more urgent.

The two of them raced up the stairs, swinging open the front door. No one was there, but Jack stepped aside with a small grin on his face anyway.

"Thanks," said the empty space, voice surprisingly light and airy. He didn't _sound_ like he was hurt, but he might be putting up a front.

They entered the living room, and Phantom became visible. His jumpsuit was shiny and pristine, hair disheveled but undirtied. His glow was bright and didn't flicker. He seemed… healthy. As much as a ghost could be, that is.

"Not injured for once?" Maddie queried, cocking an eyebrow at the ghost.

"You _did_ ask for me to come by without needing stitches," Phantom quipped back. Then he deflated a little, nervously playing with something in his hand. It seemed metallic, reflecting the light of Phantom's glow. But Jack couldn't see it well enough to tell what it was. "I, uh. Could use your help, though."

"Of course!" he boomed. "What do you need us to do?"

Phantom hesitated for a moment. Then he held out his hand, showing the metal object he had been playing with.

It was a Fenton Thermos – or used to be one, at least. The cylinder had been badly dented and even punctured in two places. Jack couldn't even imagine the power needed to achieve such a thing.

More importantly, however… How did Phantom get a Fenton Thermos?

There had been stories, descriptions of Phantom using a tool which certainly sounded _similar_ to their Thermoses… but this was the first time that Jack had seen it with his own eyes. And it was, without doubt, a Thermos just like theirs.

"How did you get that?" he asked, cautious. People had been describing Phantom with this tool for a long time. _Way_ before they ever got a truce. Phantom couldn't have gotten it back then, not unless… "Did you steal that?"

"What? No!" The ghost seemed offended by the suggestion, pulling the Thermos against his chest again.

"Then how did you get it?" Maddie repeated the question, frowning at the ghost. She also seemed put-off by the suggestion that Phantom might not have been as good as they thought.

"I- Jack threw it at me!" the ghost exclaimed, throwing out his hands.

"I did?" He didn't _remember_ doing so… but it also sounded strange enough that he couldn't imagine a ghost coming up with it as an excuse.

And apparently Maddie thought the same, because she now let up her frown to quirk an eyebrow at Phantom. "When? And why?"

The ghost huffed, crossing his arms in a somewhat disgruntled fashion. "How am I supposed to know _why_ he threw it? As for when, it was during my first fight to protect Amity Park. Against the Lunch Lady ghost."

Phantom turned to look Jack straight in the eye. "He hit me right in the face, and he wasn't even aiming for me!"

That… did sound like something that he would do. But he couldn't imagine just throwing out one of his ghost hunting inventions, not while there were ghosts running rampant! Unless…

"Hey Mads… Wasn't that when Jazz convinced us to give up on ghost hunting?"

Phantom blinked, apparently surprised by this revelation. "You… almost gave up on ghost hunting? I… really can't imagine that. What changed your mind?"

"You, actually," Maddie added, now also remembering that day. "You phased by and showed us that ghosts really _do_ exist."

"Huh," Phantom said, playing with the Thermos in his hands again. "That must've been right after I caught the Thermos."

"And that's what you were here for, then." Jack held out his hand.

"Uh, yeah." Phantom handed over the Thermos. "I was hoping you could fix it? Or, uh." He glanced over at the device with a grimace. "Or replace it, if you have something else I can use."

Jack shook his head at the state of the ghost-catching gadget and handed it over to his wife. There was no saving it. But maybe his wife could see something he didn't. "We got plenty of capture and containment devices."

"But something small, like the Thermos?" Phantom vaguely gestured at himself. "I can't exactly go about dragging a vacuum with me, can I?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed, before frowning. "Wait a minute, how do you know about the Fenton Weasel?"

"Honey, you caught Phantom in that. Remember?" Maddie looked up from the busted Thermos and also shook her head in the negative. "And there's no fixing this, you'll need something else. We'll have to check the Weapons Vault if we have another Thermos for you."

Jack, meanwhile, frowned in thought. He had captured the ghost kid before? "When was that?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean the catching thing?" Phantom scratched his cheek, thinking for a minute. "That was… Oh, that was during that bounty thing. You let me go so we could work together to save your family. Remember?"

"Oh yeah." That was when all those other ghost hunters came to Amity, just to catch Phantom! And then the Wisconsin Ghost had tried to steal their Portal! That dastardly specter!

"You never told me you two worked together." Maddie's tone was accusing, but there was a hint of a smile on her face. She seemed… amused.

"Wasn't much working together," Jack said with a shrug. "He phased me out of the cage the Wisconsin Ghost trapped me in and he flew me most of the way to FentonWorks. And then the ghost hunters showed up so he left me to fight the Wisconsin Ghost alone."

Phantom rolled his eyes, crossing his arms again. "His name is Plasmius. And I _did_ come to help you in the lab, but you didn't need it."

"You did?" Jack didn't remember seeing the ghost… Oh, duh. "You were invisible?"

"Yeah," Phantom confirmed with a nod. "And you kicked Plasmius' ass. It was _fantastic_." His grin was wide and clearly heart-felt.

"Language," Maddie chastised. Then she stopped and blinked, apparently surprised by her automatic reaction.

Phantom, in turn, stuck out his tongue. The incredibly childish gesture was ruined only by the fact that his tongue was as green as the rest of his ectoplasmic flesh.

Jack cleared his throat, catching the attention of both his wife and the specter. Then he stuck a thumb in the general direction of the Weapons Vault. "Let's go check the Vault, shall we?"

His wife nodded and got up. The two of them made it all the way to the hallway before they realized that Phantom wasn't following them.

Maddie turned to look over her shoulder at the ghost. "Are you coming too?"

Phantom blinked, apparently surprised by the question. "You're letting me, a _ghost_, look at your Vault of ghost hunting equipment?"

"We're letting a fellow _ghost hunter_ look at our ghost hunting equipment, yes." Jack shrugged at him. "Unless you don't want to see it, of course."

"No, no, I would love to." The ghost drifted towards them, remaining roughly at eye level. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Jack replied as he started moving towards the Vault again. "You won't be able to access it, since the lock runs off of DNA and you don't have any. But if you come to us we can open it for you, or grab you whatever you're looking for."

"I mean, it's not like I need ghost hunting equipment very often." Phantom floated by on his side, keeping pace with the two humans. "Besides something to catch them in, of course."

"We don't just make weapons, you know," Maddie added, looking over her shoulder at him. "I'm sure that a ghost scanner of sorts could come in handy." Then she frowned. "Although you seem to be perfectly capable of finding them already."

"Yeah." Phantom shrugged. "I kind of have one built in. One of my first abilities, and my first non-standard one, was the ability to sense other ghosts. I've honed it so I can sense direction and strength, too."

"Now _that _is a convenient power for a ghost hunter to have," Jack exclaimed with a grin. "Can you imagine, Mads? Not even needing a ghost scanner? Just _knowing_ when a ghost is nearby?"

"I can even identify some ghosts by their ecto-signatures," Phantom proudly added, now also grinning. "Mostly the ones that show up a lot, though. And all my allies, of course."

They stopped in front of the large metal door that led to the Vault. While Maddie went to unlock it, Jack turned back to the ghost. "We're working on something similar for our gear, too. Getting it to exclude your ecto-signature."

"Really?" Phantom asked, smile brightening. "That's- That means so much to me."

The mechanism of the Vault unlocked with a beep and a metallic _clunk_. Maddie withdrew her hand and pulled her glove back on, simultaneously turning to look at Phantom. "Well, we said that we were going to help you. Making sure our equipment doesn't target you is a good start, no?"

Phantom huffed, blowing a few stray hairs out of his face as he did so. "You would think that, but Red never bothered to do so. Then again, we usually go for temporary truces, not… _this_."

"You've worked with the Red Huntress before?" Maddie questioned as she opened the Vault door. "Do you know who she is, then?"

"A couple times," Phantom admitted with a shrug, drifting towards the Vault as it opened. "And yeah, but I'm not telling anyone without her permission. She wears a mask for a reason, you know?"

"You're not worried that she's gonna get hurt?" Maddie stepped aside to let Jack enter first, quirking an eyebrow at the ghost.

"Of course I am!" he answered, sounding offended. "I worry every time I see her out there hunting ghosts! I worry about everyone in this damn city!" Then his shoulders slumped, a somewhat defeated look coming over him. "But she doesn't trust me to keep Amity safe. And I can't stop her from going out." He sighed heavily. "And she has someone looking out for her. If she ever gets in too deep… Gets hurt… He'll take care of her."

"And you have us." Maddie gripped his shoulder comfortingly, before she started guiding him towards the Vault. "And we'll take care of her too, if you want."

"Thanks." Phantom floated into the Vault, then glanced around at the shelves of equipment. "Wow, this is a _lot_ of stuff."

"And you haven't even seen the stuff in the lab and the shed yet!" Jack exclaimed, appearing from deeper in the Vault. In his arms were several pieces of ghost hunting equipment – none of them weapons. "Here, I gathered some of the things that might be helpful to you."

Phantom opened his mouth to reply, but then Jack dumped all of the gear into the arms of the ghost. He struggled to keep a hold of all of it, and Maddie watched as a glass contained of Ecto-Dejecto toppled off-

and stopped right before it hit the floor. A green aura lit around it, and it slowly floated back to the stack of things Phantom was holding.

She cocked a questioning eyebrow at the ghost. "Since when do you have telekinesis?"

"A couple of months," the ghost admitted, attempting to shift the stuff he was holding to get a better grip on it. "But I don't use it much in combat. Takes too much focus." The vial settled on the stack, this time without falling off. "I'm still working on it. I don't know how useful it would be in a fight, but it could be useful to keep the citizens safe from debris and such."

"It could be useful to grab projectiles before they hit you," Maddie offered, glancing over to figure out where her husband had gone. "Things like nets and such."

Phantom blinked, then groaned. He looked like he would've slapped himself in the face if his hands weren't already occupied. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

Maddie laughed at his forlorn expression. "Glad that I was able to help." Then she eyed the teetering heap of equipment the ghost was holding. "You can bring that downstairs if you want, see if there's anything that catches your attention. I'll check for a Thermos or something similar in the meantime."

"Uh, alright." Phantom nodded before turning transparent. The items he was holding followed soon after.

"See you downstairs," he said with a grin before falling through the floor. Maddie blinked for a moment at the display of his ghostly abilities. She hadn't had much opportunity to observe him using his powers yet, so seeing him use them so casually… It was a little startling.

Not bad. Just… unexpected.

* * *

Maddie came down not much later to find Phantom in the kitchen. The stack of gear that Jack had handed him laid on the table, the ghost already picking through it. Most of the gadgets were put to the side, clearly discarded.

She cleared her throat to catch his attention. "Sorry Phantom, I'm afraid that we don't have a Thermos for you."

"Oh," he said, disappointed. "Nothing else I could use, either?"

"No, sorry." She sat down on one of the free chairs, looking over the pile of inventions. "We can build you a new one, though. If you come back this weekend we should have it done for you."

"Really?" He perked up, eyes bright. "I'll be sure to drop in, then."

Maddie smiled at him, then gestured over to the gadgets he had been sorting through. "No interest in most of these?"

"Nah." He shrugged. "Most of em I have no need for, or they're things I can already do on my own. These three could be useful, though." He picked up three items he had put aside, showing them to her.

One was the vial of Ecto-Dejecto he had almost dropped earlier. The others were a broken Fenton Ghost Fisher and some Fenton Phones.

Maddie took the snapped fishing rod from his hands. "Why do you want _this_? It's broken."

"I'm more interested in the line," he confessed. "It could be useful to tie up enemy ghosts, if I can't quite catch them in my Thermos, or if I need to talk with them."

She hummed, handing him the fishing rod back. "That's fair. What about the Ecto-Dejecto and the Fenton Phones? You _are_ aware of what the Ecto-Dejecto is supposed to do, right?"

"Well, yeah." He grinned, a little cockily. "But its current iteration strengthens ghosts, right? It could be useful if I ever get in a really tight spot."

How did he know that? He was right, of course, but how did a ghost know about this recent invention?

"Yes it does… But Phantom, how do _you_ know about that?"

His eyes widened, like he realized that he had accidentally told her something she wasn't supposed to know. The bright green irises cast shaky light all over the kitchen.

"I, uh." He started fidgeting with the vial in his hand. "Um. I might've… occasionally spied on you two in the lab. Because it was easier to avoid getting hurt if I knew what kind of inventions you had."

Maddie eyed him suspiciously. She wasn't sure if he was telling the truth, but if he was… Well, as much as she hated the idea of a ghost spying on her, his reasoning was understandable.

She sighed. "I suppose that that's fair. We _did_ target you with experimental inventions a lot."

"Heheh, yeah." He smiled somewhat sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in a motion that reminded her of her son.

She wondered, suddenly, what her kids thought of Phantom. Because while she and Jack were now on his side, they hadn't talked about their truce with their children. And while most teenagers seemed to side with Phantom… _Her_ kids were also raised by strongly anti-ghost parents.

They might hate Phantom, not knowing that their parents supported the ghost.

Phantom's face fell, and he dropped his hand too. He looked vaguely worried. "Is something… wrong?"

Maddie realized that she must've been frowning at him. She waved off his concerns. "Oh no, sorry Phantom. I was just thinking…" She eyed the ghost speculatively. "Are you… familiar with my kids?"

"Depends on your definition of 'familiar'." He shrugged. "I know a lot of kids that go to Casper High by name, especially those that get caught up in ghost attacks. But I don't really _know_ any of them."

Then he grimaced suddenly. "Except Paulina Sanchez. I'm a little _too_ familiar with her."

Maddie quirked an eyebrow at him. "How so?"

"Well, I'm sure that _she_ doesn't think so, but, uh." He flushed bright green. "She kind of… has a shrine dedicated to me in her locker. I saved her a couple times and now she's got a huge crush on me."

She snorted at his confession. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but it wasn't this. "Reminding you of those worshiping ghosts of yours?" she teased Phantom.

"At least _they_ don't have a crush on me," he replied, rolling his eyes. "And even if they _did_, at least they're also ghosts. There's something weird about a living girl having a crush on a ghost."

And he _did _look very uncomfortable. Maddie felt for him. It couldn't be easy, to be a ghost and so _aware_ of the difference between you and the living. Especially since he was still so _similar_ to them.

"Well, if she ever gets a little too persistent," she laid her hand on his shoulder, "just tell us. Jack and I will play the role of overprotective parents if need be."

Phantom huffed out a laugh, his glow brightening in joy. "Thanks, I'll… keep that in mind. But, uh. If you can _not_ give her ghost hunting equipment if she asks for it, I would appreciate that. Last thing I need is for her to be able to trap me." His eyes sparkled with joy, making it clear that he was just joking around.

"I'll make sure," Maddie promised him, lifting her hand off of his shoulder to ruffle his hair instead.

She was about to say more, but Phantom shivered suddenly. His aura flickered brighter for a moment, and a puff of blue vapor trailed out of his mouth.

The ghost groaned, floating out of his chair. "Well, duty calls."

"Was that your ghost sense, then?" She pushed herself out of the chair as well, reaching for one of the ecto-guns stored in the kitchen.

"Yup," he confirmed, stuffing the Ecto-Dejecto and the fishing line into bags on his belt. He eyed the Fenton Phones for a moment, stuffing two in another pocket but leaving the rest.

Maddie holstered a gun and reached for one of the other pairs of Fenton Phones. Phantom caught her hand, however.

"You don't have to help," he said with a shrug. "It's just the Box Ghost, no one threatening."

"Oh, that one." Maddie relaxed her posture a little, pulling her hand away from the earphones again. "Yes, I'm sure you can handle him alone."

Phantom nodded, floating further towards the door. "Yeah. It'll be a little harder without a Thermos, but it should be doable enough. I'll see you and Jack this weekend, then."

"Yeah. Bye Phantom, good luck." She smiled and waved him goodbye.

"Thanks!" he called back as he left.

* * *

And yes despite this being set in S3, Dani doesn't exist. I've gone through the canon stuff to figure out how it was different for this AU (especially things like Control Freaks) and I've decided that Vlad hasn't gone that crazy. He's more hopeful about his ability to recruit Danny in this AU, since Danny has NO friends/family in the know.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny rushed through his breakfast. He had been planning on leaving the house early and then waiting a bit before dropping back in as Phantom. Just to make sure no one would connect the two, even if he _had_ been seen hanging out with himself before. Better safe than sorry and all that.

But, unfortunately, he had slept in a _little_ longer than intended. It wasn't entirely his fault; there had been a couple of ghosts during the night that he had had to fight – including Technus, who put up an actual fight.

Sometimes Danny wished that he knew enough about technology to hack Technus' robots. Or that Tucker was there, so he could do it for him.

It was just wistful thinking, however. Danny had no time to learn hacking. And he _definitely_ wouldn't endanger Tucker – or Sam – by dragging them into his fights.

With his breakfast done, Danny chucked his dishes in the sink and shouted a goodbye to his parents down in the lab. Their echoing voices called back, and he ran out of the door. He would've turned into the alley next to the house, but a little more time between him leaving and Phantom appearing would probably be good.

So he walked down a few streets. Moved closer to Amity's park before ducking into an alley. Shifting to Phantom was as exhilarating as always – the feeling of cold energy crackling down his skin, _through_ him.

Then he zipped off. Back towards his house, although the journey was far quicker now. The advantages of flying at high speeds, he supposed.

He made sure to go invisible before he got back. It was a bit of a habit – making sure that no one connected Phantom to the Fentons. Even if they _did_ have a truce now.

The doorbell rang. Loud footsteps could be heard almost immediately, and Danny smiled despite himself. As much as his dad annoyed him sometimes, he couldn't help but love the man.

"Phantom?" his dad asked, already stepping aside to let him come in. "Mads and I were just in the lab. Want to join us?"

Behind him, the door clicked closed. Danny dropped his invisibility, shooting his dad a smile. "Sure. Lead the way."

Jack nodded, walking past him to the kitchen. Danny knew where the lab was, of course, but _Phantom_ didn't. Sometimes it was a little concerning how natural it came to him, pretending to be someone he wasn't. Someone else.

But then he remembered how often it had almost gone wrong. The times he almost endangered himself or other people. All the work he had put into _making_ it come natural.

His dad entered the lab, and Danny floated in right behind him. His mom looked up, her face brightening when she saw him. "Hey Phantom. Came to get the Thermos?"

"Yeah," he said, hovering closer. "But I'm in no rush, so if you want you could continue your ghost studies."

She nodded, leaning over her worktable. When she turned back to him, she chucked something at him.

He caught it by reflex. Looking down, he saw it was a new Fenton Thermos – shiny steel and green accents just like the last one. It was impeccable, smooth metal with a white lid. The only thing that differentiated it from the last one was the metal ring attached to the cap.

"I added a loop so you could attach it to your belt," his mom explained, seeing his confusion. "Unless you prefer to sling it over your back?"

"No, uh. This is fine." He bent down to hang it off of his belt as she suggested. "I didn't like the back strap a lot anyway – too much risk of it getting crushed if I get slammed into a building or the floor."

"Good thinking, kid." His dad sat down next to Maddie, still with a smile on his face.

"Thanks." He grinned back. Somehow he never got over this – over getting complimented as Phantom. Especially by his parents, by the people who had been Phantom's biggest opponents for years.

It was a little bitter-sweet perhaps. And maybe, _maybe_, he shouldn't have forgiven them so quickly. But they were his parents. They would always _be_ his parents, even if they don't know. He can't hate them. That's just… not the kind of person he was.

"So, uh." He gestured to the lab as a whole. "Ghost studies? What are you interested in learning about today?"

"Would you be opposed to examinations?" His mom folded her hands together, looking pensive. Her goggles were pulled up – a rare sight in the lab. "There is much we could learn from how ghosts function on a physical level."

Danny grimaced. He didn't think he could count the amount of times he had feared dissection – at his parents' hands, mostly. "I, um."

"Nothing serious!" she assured him. "We will explain everything we're doing, so you'll know what's happening. And you'll be allowed to tell us to stop any time."

"It'll be like a medical checkup," his dad added. "If we know what is normal for ghosts, for _you_, we'll be able to use that later. If we don't know what your normal body temperature is, we won't know if you have a fever. If we don't know what your pulse is, we won't know if it's dropping. That kinda stuff."

That… made a lot of sense. "And I'll be able to quit whenever I want?"

"Of course sweetie. And anything you're uncomfortable with, you tell us and we won't do it." Her violet eyes were warm, loving. The kind of look he associated with Fenton, not Phantom. He barely repressed the urge to check if he was still in ghost form, even though he _knew _he was.

"Alright," he said. Then, more strongly, he repeated, "Alright."

He wrung his hands together, then squared his shoulders. "What's first, then?"

"Let's start with body temperatures," his dad suggested, digging a thermometer out of a box. "Normally we would try and measure the temperature of your core as well, but I can't think of a way to do that without, well…"

Danny snorted. "I get it, I get it." He took the thermometer from his dad, looking it over. "D'you think it would work if I turned it intangible? I could try phasing it part-way through my chest so you can measure my core?"

"It's worth a shot." His mom pulled a notebook closer to her, clicking her pen. "Try measuring your temperature normally first, and then you can try repeating that with the thermometer intangible. If that matches your normal temp, you can try using it on your core as well."

"Sounds good." Danny twirled the thermometer around, then stuck it in his mouth. He had to admit that he was a little curious. He knew some of the very basics of how his ghost form worked – but only the things he _had_ to know. How blood and ectoplasm measured up against each other, how ectoplasm was visible in his blood but blood wasn't visible in his ectoplasm. More mundane things, like his body temperature, he had never checked.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Danny couldn't talk with the thermometer in his mouth, and his parents didn't seem to be bothered by the resulting quiet. Maybe they just enjoyed the moment of peace that they had achieved. A ghost and two ghost hunters, sitting around. Like a family.

Which they were, but, well. The other two didn't know that.

Finally his mom gestured for the thermometer. Danny pulled it out of his mouth and handed it over without comment. He simply leaned forwards, elbow resting on his knee, and asked, "And, what's the prognosis? Am I gonna die?"

She snorted, shaking her head at him. "Might be too late for that, Phantom. Although your body temperature is fairly high for a ghost. Still nowhere close to a human, though."

Danny nodded. He had figured as much. Ghosts felt cold to him when he touched them, and humans felt warm. It was to be expected that he was somewhere in the middle, then.

His dad pulled out some other equipment. The stethoscope, Danny recognized. He wasn't sure what the other machine was for, though. He frowned.

"This is used to measure your heartbeat," his dad explained, apparently catching the cause of his confusion. "It might pinch a little – it'll inflate to put pressure around your arm. Do you want to start with this, or with your breathing?"

He shrugged. "Might as well start with the pulse thing, right?"

Kneeling, his dad started fastening the armband around Danny's upper arm. "We'll measure it twice, if that's okay with you. Once now, and then again after a few physical tests. See if your heartbeat gets elevated, and if it does, what your normal max is."

"Sounds good to me." The machine hummed as the band started to inflate. Like his dad had said, it felt a little uncomfortable, a little too tight. But it was alright. And knowing what it was supposed to do, the purpose behind it, made it feel less like a trapping and more like… well, like the machine it actually was.

After a few minutes the armband deflated again. "Well kid, if you were a human I'd be worried." But his dad said it with a smile, so Danny wasn't too concerned. Besides, he already knew his heartbeat was slow, even in human form.

"Good thing I'm not, huh?" He phased the armband off and handed it back to his dad. "Breathing first, or exercises?"

"Let's do breathing first," his mom suggested, looking over the notes Jack had taken. "If you're okay with it, we can test your abilities for the exercises."

He hummed an affirmative and started to unzip his jumpsuit. It felt a little weird to sit around his parents bare-chested, but, well. They had seen him naked plenty of times, hadn't they?

His dad kneeled in front of him with the stethoscope. Danny had to repress a shiver when his dad gently put the thing to his chest – the metal was cold even on the skin of his ghost form.

A couple of breathing exercises later, Jack stepped away again and Danny gratefully pulled his jumpsuit closed. It hadn't been anything spectacular – take a deep breath, now huff it out again – but it was a bit of a hassle.

It might come in handy later, he knew. But for the moment he was mostly doing it to placate his parents.

"Let's do weight next," his mom said, snapping Danny out of his thoughts again.

"Weight?" he repeated, frowning at her. "What do you need to know that for?"

"Curiosity, mostly." His dad shrugged at him, still smiling. "Your structure is a lot more complicated, a lot more human, than most ghosts. We want to see how that impacts your weight."

A scale was dragged out of one of the many boxes in the lab. Internally, Danny marveled at all the stuff his parents owned that he never knew about. Why did they even _own_ some of these things? A heartbeat monitor couldn't be normal equipment for people specializing in researching _ghosts_, right?

Obediently, he stepped on the scale. Made sure to tamper down his ghost powers as much as possible without shifting back. Floating, after all, came naturally to him in ghost form.

"Interesting." His mom noted down the weight. Danny had to repress the urge to lean over and see what she wrote down. So sue him for being curious! He _was_ the kid of scientists, after all. "Heavier than most ghosts, but not by as much as I expected. Ectoplasm is ectoplasm, I suppose."

Danny shrugged. "I guess so? I never really looked into it."

Now his dad stepped forward again, a measuring tape in his hands. Frowning, Danny turned to him. "And measuring my height is good for what, exactly?"

"You look like you've grown since you started protecting Amity Park, but we have no real way to prove this." His dad held up the tape, as if presenting it. "But if we measure you now, and then try it again later, that might do it. If you get taller, that'll be official proof that you _do_ grow."

"Oh, I see." He cocked his head towards the nearest wall. "Want me to stand against that to make sure I stand straight?"

"Good idea, kid." His dad followed him to the wall, and Danny pressed himself against it. Made sure to flatten himself completely – and made sure not to stand on his toes. He would've worried about his parents connecting his two forms because they just _happen_ to be the same height, but his parents haven't measured Danny's height in forever. And with his teenage growth spurt (his unfortunately _very slow_ growth spurt) he no longer matched that, anyway.

"5'7," Jack concluded with a nod. "A good height for a teenager, but with room for more growth."

"That's what I'm hoping for." Danny shot him a grin, leaving his parents to conclude if it was a joke or not. He already knew that he grew – his ghost form continued to match his human one, and he _had_ kept a fearful eye on his height. He hadn't been able to repress his fears that he might be too ghostly to grow – stuck the same way forever.

Thankfully this hadn't been the case – and he was not doomed to be a teenager forever. _Or_ the shortest one in his friend group.

Well, he _hoped_ he was still gonna catch up on Sam and Tucker. Sam, at least, he could surely surpass. His dad was enormous – Danny couldn't imagine being _short_ for the rest of his life with genes like _that_.

"So, uh. Powers?" he asked, realizing that things had gone quiet.

His mom nodded, flipping to a new page in the notebook. "Well, we would like to record all of your powers, of course. If we know how many you have now, and how good they are, we could look into a training regime to help improve them."

Wow. It was like Vlad, except less "let me kill your dad". And less knowledge about ghosts, but that was something that Danny was more than happy to give up on in return for the "no killing" thing.

"Sounds good to me. But I can't show you everything. Some things, like enhanced healing, I can't really demonstrate."

"Of course kiddo." His dad pulled out another box, revealing a bunch of weights. "But we'll start with the more mundane things, so we can count them as exercises."

Danny floated closer, then landed on the floor next to his dad. "Let me guess. We're starting with my physical strength?"

He grabbed one of the weights out of the box. It didn't _feel_ very heavy. "So am I just supposed to hold as many of these as possible?"

"Yup." His dad grabbed a weight in each hand, then handed one over to Danny. "I'll pile them on for you, you just have to hang on to them."

Nodding, he took the two weights from his dad. After a moment of thought, he curled his arms against his chest, forming a pit of sorts he could stack them in. "Load me up!"

With a laugh, his dad did exactly that. He started stacking them on two at a time, occasionally glancing at Danny to make sure it wasn't too heavy.

They kept that up for a while before Danny's knees buckled and he almost crushed his dad under the weights. The final weight was noted down, despite Danny swearing up and down that he has carried more than that before.

"We'll try again after getting your elevated pulse," his mom soothed as his dad pulled out the stethoscope and monitor again. "It's possible that you can carry more while you're flying. After all, flying depends on the low-gravity properties of ectoplasm, which might make it easier to carry heavy weights."

"Yeah." The armband was fastened around his arm again. "That makes sense."

So, as it turned out, his elevated heartbeat matched his human one. It made him a little curious to see what it would be in his human form. Maybe he would swipe the monitor at a later moment to test it himself. Like his parents had said, it could be useful to know!

And maybe he _was_ a little curious. Maybe.

Per his insistence, they went back to measuring his strength. And, as his mom had suggested, he _was_ able to carry more while flying. That, especially, was a good thing to know. Knowing that he could lift more while airborne would help him keep people safe, after all.

Testing his enhanced senses was a lot easier. While his range of vision and hearing were the same as a human's, they were more sensitive. He could see further, had almost impeccable night vision (while in ghost form at least), and he could hear noises from much farther away. Taste and scent were, thankfully, equal to when he was human. He couldn't imagine _those_ being of much use, anyway.

After that, testing his enhanced reflexes was a logical choice. His parents would throw objects at him, often without warning. Although they _did_ switch to bits of trash or other disposable objects after Danny destroyed the first few things by reflex.

So sue him, usually if things flew at him while he was Phantom they were meant to hurt him! The few times he _had_ caught the weapons, they had always been turned against him. 9 out of 10 times they would turn out to be explosives, or otherwise traps.

Thankfully he hadn't hit his parents – or anything besides the stuff they threw at him. More training might be a good thing after all, if only to make it so that he wasn't so quick to lash out.

Wow, it was almost like he always used his ghost form to fight ghosts. If only he had more people in the know, he could spend more time as Phantom without fighting. There was, after all, a limit to how much time he could spend in the Zone with his allies. Sooner or later his parents would start missing him.

Maybe he would have to start visiting more often as Phantom. That might be… nice.

"We have no way to test your enhanced healing, so I think it's time to move on to your regular ghost powers. Don't you agree, Phantom?"

Danny snapped out of his thoughts, locking eyes with his dad. "Um. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Starting with the three main ghost powers?"

"Yes. Let's start with intangibility, please?" His mom clicked the pen in her hand, ready to take notes.

"Uh, right." Turning himself intangible, Danny flew out of the lab and back in through the walls. Then he dove through a few tables for good measure. "And as you know, I can turn objects or people intangible as well. But last time Jack said that it felt weird, so I don't usually if I can prevent it."

His mom turned to raise a skeptical eyebrow at his dad. The man just shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. "It felt kinda tingly. Made me feel weird in the stomach."

"Tingly?" Danny repeated, brow creased. "Yeah, I think that that describes it well. That's how I first started identifying it as well, when I couldn't control it well yet."

"You couldn't control your powers at first?" She turned back to him, looking intrigued. "I would assume that ghosts form with perfect control."

"Nah. Not over all their powers, at least." Danny shrugged. "I know _I_ didn't have good control. I couldn't maintain powers well, and I kept accidentally using them as well. It was kind of embarrassing. And new powers are difficult as well, but that seems to be common. Most ghosts don't gain new powers very often, but they often need guidance with them if it _does _happen."

She nodded, quickly noting it down. "Would you mind using your intangibility on me as well, then? I have to admit that I'm curious what it feels like, now."

Laughing, he flew over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Sure. I'll fly through the wall and then back again, okay?"

Another nod, this time of approval. Danny tapped into his intangibility again, this time letting it flow through him and over his mom. She shivered but didn't protest.

He flew them through the wall and then immediately back again. From experience, he knew that it was weird to be fully underground while intangible. A little scary, even. There was always this fear of going tangible again while buried. It had gotten better for him – he often used the ground now to hide for ambush attacks – but his mom wouldn't be protected by that.

"That was…" she trailed off, falling silent.

Letting go, Danny floated a little back. "We warned you that it would feel weird."

"Yeah, you did." She shook her head. "But let's move on to invisibility, okay?"

"Sure." And he blinked out of visibility instantly. Slowly, he flew some laps around the lab. While he could turn himself invisible, he could still give himself away with the wind that rushed past him.

Coming to a halt right next to his dad, Danny leaned in right next to his ear. Then, quietly so his mom wouldn't hear, he whispered, "Don't be scared, it's just me."

Then he laid his hands on his dad's shoulders and turned the man invisible as well.

His mom started, turning in the direction where Jack had been. "Phantom?" she asked, a little wary.

"Sorry," he said from much closer, popping back into visibility. A smirk was on his face, and a wide smile on his dad's face. "I couldn't resist."

She shook her head disapprovingly, but sighed somewhat fondly. "I suppose all ghosts are pranksters, even if they aren't malevolent, huh?"

"Might just be a teenager thing," Jack suggested with a wink. "But it was a very interesting experience! Didn't feel as weird as intangibility, but it was a lot different visually."

"Yeah?" That was interesting. Danny never heard about what his powers felt like to others. The only reason why he knew about intangibility was because his dad pointed it out before – and sometimes people he saved complained that it felt weird. Invisibility he rarely shared with other people. Or never, even. "How's that?"

"Well, for starters, seeing myself see-through was strange." He raised his hands, wiggling the fingers. "And being able to see _you_ while you were invisible was pretty unexpected as well."

"Really?" His mom frowned, eyes darting between the two of them. "You could see Phantom even while he was invisible?"

"I think it makes sense," Danny admitted with a shrug. "He was piggy-backing off of my invisibility, so it makes sense that he was immune to its effects. I can see anything I turn invisible as well – it just makes sense."

"Yes, if you put it like that it makes perfect sense." Maddie shook her head, pen scribbling on the paper. "But knowing that it works the same the other way around is very interesting. Flight next?"

His legs melted together in a ghostly tail. "I've been flying around the whole time. What else do you want to know about it?"

"How fast can you go?" his dad asked, looking interested. "Top speeds seem to differ between ghosts, but you might be one of the fastest we see in Amity Park. And it would make sense – you need to be able to catch up with enemy ghosts."

Danny blinked. Yes, that _did_ make sense. "I've… never measured it. Never thought much about it, to be honest. Do you guys have some way to measure speed?"

"We should." His mom put the notepad down, eyes roving over some of the storage boxes. "There should be a speed gun in one of those boxes. We used it to measure the top speed of some of our inventions – like the GAV and the Specter Speeder."

He flew over to the boxes, hovering over them. Then he turned his hand intangible and stuck it in, rummaging around. "Shaped like a gun, right?"

"Well, yeah, but you won't find it–" his mom started to say. Then he pulled his hand back out, white gloved fingers clenched around a speed gun, "– like that. You can touch things even while intangible?"

"Uh, yeah." He played with the gun in his hand, slowly floating back to his parents. "I can reach out with my power to kind of… 'feel' the objects? Like turning them intangible on touch, except I don't actually supply enough power to _do_ anything?"

"Clever," his mom complimented, taking the gun from him. Then she grew serious again. "Does intangibility affect your speed?"

"Nope." He shook his head for good measure. "But corners do, so I'll fly through the wall."

She aimed the gun at the wall, then nodded at him. "Ready when you are."

Zipping through the wall, Danny forced himself to go as quickly as possible. Not just for himself, not just to prove he could do it, but to make his parents proud.

He hadn't realized how little he saw them with pride in their eyes until now. Seeing how they looked at Phantom whenever he impressed them. It made him realize how far he had grown apart since he had become Phantom. Keeping his secret away from them, from _everyone_… it had caused a divide. One he hadn't noticed until now.

Confident that he had reached his top speed, Danny dove through the wall. Wind whistled through him – not just his ears, but his entire body – and he saw little more of the lab than colorful blurs.

Once the world had gone dark again, he slowed and turned around to phase back into the lab.

Panting a little from the effort, he leaned back against the wall he had come through. "And? Any good?"

"Well, 186 miles per hour sure isn't shabby, kid." His dad grinned, wide and bright and _proud_. "That's about 300 kilometers per hour, too."

Danny couldn't help his impressed whistle. "Damn, that's even higher than I thought."

"Language," his mom snapped. Then her eyes widened as she realized that, once again, she had corrected him for cursing.

"_Darn_, that's even higher than I thought," Danny repeated, emphasizing the first word. He re-angled himself so his feet touched the wall, letting himself stand on the vertical surface so he wasn't floating anymore. "Was that better?"

"How're you doing that?" his dad asked before Maddie could say anything. "Are you standing on the wall?"

"Uh, yeah." He walked around a little, demonstrating. Then with a shrug, stepped onto the ceiling instead. "It's like a subset of flight. But it's kind of useless – most ghosts prefer regular flight."

"Fascinating." His dad's voice was quiet with awe. Or, well, as quiet as Jack Fenton got. "But what would make a ghost prefer this over flight?"

Danny let himself drop from the ceiling again, flipping mid-air to land on his feet. "Usually overshadowing ghosts prefer it. I think it might be because the bodies are so much heavier than the ghost is used to carrying? But I dunno. I don't overshadow a lot, but it never bothered me."

"But you've overshadowed people before?" His mom looked at him critically. Criticizing.

He grimaced. Couldn't exactly tell them that he had overshadowed his dad before to get out of trouble with school. "A couple of times," he ended up admitting. "But only for short moments, and usually only to drive out other ghosts. It's either that or ecto-rays, usually, and neither are well-received."

"No, I would imagine not." But her eyes softened, and the corners of her lips turned up a little. "The lesser of two evils might still be seen as evil, after all."

"Let's not give this one a field test, then." His dad clapped him on the shoulder, and Danny almost stumbled at the sudden contact. "I already know what it's like to be overshadowed, and it's not a power we should train."

"Definite agree." Danny lifted up a little, floating at shoulder-height with his dad. "I don't like using it anyway."

His mom looked over the notebook, then glanced at the clock. "Maybe we should save the rest of your powers for another time. It's getting late, and we haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Same, to be honest." He looked at the clock as well, surprised to see that it had been a good few hours already. "Jeez, it's like 3 in the afternoon already. Time flies, huh?"

"We'll make it a light lunch," his mom decided, closing the notebook and laying it down on a desk. "If we eat too much it'll mess with dinner."

Then she turned to face him, a warm smile on her face. "Speaking of which, do you want to stay for dinner, Phantom?"

Danny froze. Licked his lips, uncertain. "I, uh. I sh– _can't_. Gotta patrol Amity, make sure no one is causing trouble, y'know?"

She wilted a little, but nodded. "I see. Will you stay for lunch, at least?"

His stomach rumbled, answering for him. Sometimes he forgot how much energy he burned through using his ghost powers – and maintaining his ghost form in general. "Yeah, I can do that. Just can't stay until tonight."

* * *

Lunch was a rather familiar event. Not just for him, because this was his family, and it felt natural to sit around and eat together. But also, it seemed, for his parents. Maybe they, too, settled naturally around him because he was their son, even if they didn't know it.

Or maybe he just ate lunch with them too often. He was pretty sure that this was the third time he had eaten with them as Phantom, despite it only being his fourth visit.

The three of them had teamed up to do the dishes. His mom washed them, his dad dried them, and then Danny floated them to the right places using his telekinesis. He had to ask for instructions a few times, pretending he didn't know where the dishes were stored, which was a little weird. But not _too_ weird, considering, well, everything about his life.

Besides, it was good practice! Telekinesis was still new to him, after all. And while he had enough control over it to not drop small items, moving with precision was still tricky.

He didn't even hear the front door opening. Not until a sharp gasp came from the doorway.

The sound startled him so badly that he lost grip of his telekinesis. He lunged forward to catch the glass. Barely saved it from shattering on the floor.

"Phantom?!" his sister said, incredulous. She turned from him, lying flat on the floor with a glass in his hands, to his – their – parents. "Why is he here?"

His mom, having just dried off her hands, took the glass from his hands. He shot her a grateful smile, pushing himself off of the floor again.

"Well, as you could see, we were doing the dishes," he explained, with the smirk he _knew_ frustrated his enemies. The stupid snarky smile that everyone loved or hated.

The dry look Jazz shot him back just made him grin wider. "Uh huh. And was that _all_ you were doing?"

"He was just helping us with some research Jazzy-pants, no worries!" Jack quickly started drying the last few dishes. "Nothing he wasn't okay with."

She still didn't look very convinced. "Right. And he _chose_ to help?"

"Well, yeah." Danny took the dried plate from his dad and put it away – this time not using his telekinesis. It was already tricky enough while he _wasn't_ maintaining a tough conversation. "That's kind of the point of our truce, isn't it? They help me, I help them?"

"Are you telling me you guys have a _truce_?" Jazz, eyes growing wide, looked between him and Maddie. "Since when?!"

"Couple of weeks, a month? Something like that." Jack handed the last dish to Danny. "He dropped by heavily injured, and we helped him. After that he forgave us for hunting him, and we've been working on being, well, _better_."

Putting the last plate away, Danny rolled his eyes. "There was nothing to forgive you for, you know? You were just doing what you thought was best."

"Unbelievable," Jazz said, voice quiet. "You're all frigging _unbelievable_. You're just gonna move past all the trauma, just like that?"

"Uh. Yeah?" Danny shrugged, turning to face her properly. "They didn't do anything _too_ bad, anyway. And they've been really helpful since – I wouldn't be around anymore if it wasn't for them."

"Oh." Some of the tension drained from her posture, and suddenly she looked more tired. Still, she eyed him speculatively. "You're… different. Not how you usually are."

"You know, I've noticed the same," his mom admitted, now also eyeing him. "You act different in public."

"Of course I do." He sat down on a chair, gesturing for the rest to join him. Might as well sit down for the conversation, right? "Out there, I'm like a hero, right? An icon for Amity Park, a protector. So I gotta _be_ a hero. Not just do heroic things, but I have to _act _like one."

"But the snark is all you, huh?" His mom smiled at him, knowingly, as she sat down. "The constant jokes?"

"Oh, definitely. Besides, it's got a purpose. A well-placed quip can act as a distraction, letting me take the upper hand in a fight." He shrugged. "Gotta take every advantage I can get, y'know?"

Jazz sat down as well, taking the chair opposite of him. "Doesn't that ever hurt, though? To put up a facade, to constantly fight for Amity and never get appreciated for it?"

"Absolutely." He huffed out a breath. "Especially back at the start, when everyone hated me and called me Inviso-Bill instead of my name. When people framed me and ruined the reputation I worked so hard to build up."

He shook his head. "But I couldn't – _can't_ – let that get to me. Protecting Amity Park and its people is more important. Whether or not they liked me didn't matter."

"But _why_," she insisted, her elbows resting on the table as she leaned forward. "Why is this so important to you? I thought ghostly obsessions were a disproved theory?"

"They _are_." He rolled his eyes, looking away from her for a moment to collect his thoughts. "But as I told your parents the first time I was around, I got a good reason to protect Amity. Just because _I'm_ dead doesn't mean that my family is."

She pulled back, her eyes growing wide again. "Your family still lives here? Wow. They must be really grateful that you're here to keep them safe, then."

Oh, the irony. One day they would look back to this and laugh. But not now – he wasn't ready to reveal his secret. Not yet.

"Not really," he said instead. "They don't know that I'm Phantom. I never told them – they hate ghosts, and I didn't want to hurt them with that. With knowing that their own kid became the thing they hated most."

His mom sighed, sad and weary. "I just wish you would tell us who they are, Phantom. Maybe we could convince them. Don't you miss them, your friends and your family?"

"It's fine the way it is now," he insisted instead. "They're… getting better. They're changing, slowly but surely. And it's not like I never see them, anyway. I can keep an eye on them, and when the time comes…" He fidgeted with the edge of his glove, looking for the right words. "When the time comes, I'll tell them."

And he wanted to_._ He really _did_ plan on telling them, eventually. Because, sooner or later, they would all find out.

It had happened before, after all. In alternate timelines, changed realities. And they had always accepted him – in the moment, at least. But he couldn't know it would go afterwards. Would they still let him hunt ghosts? Would they insist on endangering themselves, trying to help?

He couldn't know, and he didn't want to risk it.

"No wonder that Spectra was so fixated on you," Jazz mumbled, breaking the silence. "She was crazy for negative emotions, wasn't she?"

"Yeah." He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus back on the present instead of what-if's and could-be's. "She's a nasty one."

"What's this?" his dad asked, leaning forward as well. "What are we missing here?"

"Phantom saved me from a nasty ghost, back when he was still new." She shrugged, looking surprisingly casual about it. "She wanted to kill me, I think."

"_I_ saved _you_?" Danny snorted, incredulous. "Dude, without your save with the Fenton Peeler she would've _wrecked_ me."

"Alright, so we saved each other." She smiled, but the corners sagged and she looked more sad than anything. "Either way, what she said was wrong. You shouldn't believe anything she told you, okay?"

Wait. How much had Jazz heard of that conversation?

"I know. That's what Spectra does. She finds the thing that hurts you most, that you feel most insecure about, and digs in. And then the negative feelings make her stronger, and she then makes _them_ worse, and it becomes this horrible spiral you can't break out of." He paused, licked his lips. "But, uh. How much _did_ you hear from that?"

Wow. _Smooth_, Fenton.

"Not much," Jazz admitted. "Only the last bit, I think. But I heard enough."

She shook her head, frowning. "'Who cares for a thing like you', jeez. Like you aren't constantly out there, making a difference. Like it _matters_ that you're a ghost." Her smile widened again, becoming more genuine. "If my parents, the most ghost-hating individuals in Amity Park, can be convinced that not all ghosts are bad, what does it matter?"

He huffed out a laugh. "Nothing Spectra says matters. She just spews vile lies. And when you fight her off, you start realizing that. I already _knew_ she was wrong. But, uh. Thanks."

"No Phantom, thank _you_. For keeping Amity Park safe." She looked from him and to their parents. "For doing the right thing, even when everyone was against you. I can't imagine how hard it has been for you."

She turned back to smile at him again. Her hand came down on his, the warm fingers curling around his gloved ones. "_Thank you_, Phantom. And if you ever need someone to talk to, just remember us. Okay?"

"Uh. Yeah." He tugged his hand away from hers, a green blush crawling up on his cheeks. It felt a little like Jazz was crushing on Phantom, and that thought made him _more than a little_ uncomfortable. "Um. Thanks, everyone. For everything. But I gotta, uh. Gotta go."

"Patrol, right?" His mom shook her head, resigned. "Stay safe, Phantom. And drop by more often, will you?"

Nodding, he was already lifting out of his seat. "I will, for sure." He gave a short wave. "See you guys later, and stay safe!"

As he flew off, he heard the three of them shout back, "You as well!"

* * *

Wow it's been like 2.5 months since I last updated this? wild. Anyway, it's gonna be weekly updates from here on out - every Saturday, until the final chapter will go up! I pulled it off for Disinterred so I'm sure I'll manage it for WaNS as well, even if the chapters are longer and the buffer smaller.

As for the chapter itself... yay, Jazz is finally here! Can you believe that I initially started writing WaNS because I wanted Jazz to meet Danny in this AU, and then it took 10.000 words for it to actually happen. Yikes.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny rang the doorbell to his own house. It was slowly becoming normal for him – just like calling his parents Maddie and Jack had become normal over time. Hell, now that he was spending extended amounts of time around his parents as Phantom, he had to start reminding himself _not_ to call them that when he turned back. How weird would that be, if he called them by their names as Fenton?

Everything about this situation was just so _weird_. Jazz would have a field day with this if she knew. That, and she would be _very very_ worried.

Which is why he wasn't planning on telling anyone just yet. His parents' support for Phantom was good enough for now. Besides, he had made it through the past two years without trouble – why _would_ he tell anyone?

Anyway, he was visiting as Phantom once again. It hadn't been very long since his last visit – only about a week or so. But it was Saturday, and he figured he might as well. Besides, Johnny and Kitty were in town – which made this a good moment to introduce his parents to some non-malevolent ghosts without having to travel to the Ghost Zone.

The door swung open, his dad's massive frame filling the space. The man glanced around, then stepped aside. Clearly he, too, had gotten used to the invisible visits from Phantom.

"Hey Phantom," Jack greeted him when Danny became visible again. "What can we do for you today?"

Smiling, Danny shrugged. "Nothing. Just dropping by, if that's okay?"

His dad's face brightened even further. "Of course that's okay! Mads is down in the lab, do you want me to call her up or…?"

"We can go down." Danny glanced away, then turned back with a sheepish expression. "I, uh. I actually had an idea for something we could do. To work on your research, I mean."

"Really?" Jack had started leading the way, so Danny couldn't see his expression, but he sure _sounded_ enthusiastic. "What do you have in mind?"

"If you can wait for a moment, I'll tell you when we get down." Danny smirked at his dad, even though the man didn't look. "I don't want to have to repeat myself for Maddie."

Jack huffed in that way he always did when he was pouting. Danny's smirk simply widened as they entered the lab.

"Jack? Phantom?" His mom looked up from the invention she was working on. "What's going on?"

"Phantom wouldn't let me tell his idea," Jack complained, still pouting. Maddie shot Danny an incredulous look, which he answered with a shrug.

"I didn't want to have to repeat myself to tell you as well." He floated over to a nearby chair, perching on its back. "I had an idea for your research, but you'll have to leave the house."

"Oh?" His mom pulled her hood off, revealing a quirked eyebrow. "Why's that?"

Folding his arms over the chair, Danny tried to look casual. "I figured I could introduce you two to some other ghosts. Kinda slim pickings on this side of the Zone, but I've got an ally over at Casper High, and Johnny and Kitty are in town and usually okay."

Then he shifted, getting a little fidgety. "That is, um. If you are okay with that?"

"That's…" Maddie paused, glanced over at her husband. "Actually, that's a pretty good idea. We already knew that you were pretty strange for a ghost, Phantom. Having more proof of ghosts behaving non-malevolently would be useful."

Danny grimaced at the casual reminder that _somehow_ people had figured out that he wasn't a regular ghost. "Right, um. I figured as much. We can start with Sidney, since I actually know where to find him."

"Actually, Phantom," his dad crept closer, looking rather thoughtful, "I – _we_ – would like you meet someone, first."

Frowning, Danny shifted to look at both of his parents. "Oh? Who?"

"Our son, Danny!" A massive hand came down on Danny's shoulder, which thankfully covered his wince. Right. His parents thought that Danny Fenton was home – it was a regular Saturday, after all. Now how was he gonna cover for this…

"Really?" He made sure to look interested – or as interested as he had been when he met Jazz, at least. "Well, I mean. If he's interested in meeting me, I'm not opposed either."

"Of course he'll be interested!" His dad scoffed at the thought of Danny _not_ being interested in meeting Phantom. "Danny-boy has always been interested in ghosts, you see. But he doesn't speak about it much, I think it embarrasses him."

Or maybe he didn't speak about it much because he didn't want to attract attention to himself. Being interested or knowledgeable about ghosts wasn't much to be ashamed of anymore, now that ghosts were actually known to be real. And, in the case of Phantom, widely beloved.

"Well, in that case." Danny shrugged. "I suppose it would be a little silly to meet one of your kids and not the other, right?" Or, _they_ would think it was weird. He had no reason to not want to meet Danny Fenton – none besides the fact that he _was_ Danny Fenton, of course.

He just… he had to find a way to get out of this. If he could get a duplicate going, it would be fairly easy to blow off Phantom as Danny Fenton. But to do _that_, he had to sneak out a copy. And while he had gotten fairly good at making duplicates – and maintaining them – creating them unseen was still a little tricky.

Trailing behind his parents as they went of the stairs, Danny made sure to go just a little slower than usual. When no one was looking, he tugged on his core and _prayed_ that the duplicate would come out invisible like he wanted. The line snapped, and Danny could sense the copy but not see him. _Good_.

Like all duplicates, the copy knew exactly what Danny wanted from him. It wasn't a direct link, not usually – that cost more energy than it was worth. Instead he simply imparted the duplicate with his orders, and the copy would, for better or worse, follow those instructions to the best of his abilities. But they were _just_ enough like him to put their own twist on them – to act _just_ right enough.

"Danny-boy?" his dad called once they arrived at the base of the stairs to the next floor. "Can you come down for a minute?"

A moment of silence. Danny tensed reflexively – surely his duplicate had…?

"Coming!" his own voice answered from upstairs. Footsteps, and then Danny Fenton appeared around the corner. "What's up, dad?"

His dad gestured at Danny – _real_ Danny, who was Phantom right now – and smiled. "Hey son. Why don't you come and meet our new ally, Phantom?"

The duplicate glanced between Jack and Danny – _Phantom_. Then he shrugged, not looking particularly enthused. "I mean, I guess. But I'm kinda busy right now, and it's not like I've never seen Phantom before."

Mom narrowed her eyes, shifting her gaze from Danny to Phantom. "Really now?"

"I'm at the school all the time," Danny said, taking his eyes off of the duplicate to look at her. "You wouldn't _believe_ how many ghost attacks there are at Casper High. The kids there have seen me _a lot_."

"Yeah, exactly." The duplicate nodded his agreement. "Plus, like I said. Busy. And I'm sure you three have other things to do, too."

The fake Danny Fenton gave a short wave, then turned around and walked back into his room. Moments later Danny felt the duplicate dissipate – he had done exactly as required.

"I guess he wasn't as enthusiastic as I expected." His dad frowned, looking at Danny a little apologetically. "Sorry Phantom."

"It's fine." He flapped a hand, dismissive. "You never know with teenagers. Trust me, I know."

His mom clicked her tongue. "That's because you're one yourself, Phantom."

"Doesn't that make me an expert?" He grinned, in that way that he knew was just a _tad_ too cocky. "As a teen myself?"

Then he floated past his parents, moving towards the front door. "Either way, I hope you're not tired of teens yet. The ghost we're meeting first, Sidney Poindexter, is a teenage ghost as well."

They nodded, and his dad pulled out the notebook again. "Ah, yes. Haunts Casper High and is on neutral grounds with you, right? Occasionally fights bullies?"

He ran through the list, mentally. Yes, that sounded about right. Sidney was actually an ally of his, but he hadn't told his parents as much. After all, Sidney was mostly an ally for _Fenton_, not Phantom.

"Yeah, that's correct. We'll be meeting him by Casper High."

"We'll take the GAV," his mom said, pulling the key from a pocket in her jumpsuit. "Will you ride with us or will you fly?"

Shrugging, he halted by the front door. "Might as well ride with you, if that's okay."

She scoffed, unlocking the front door and walking towards the garage. "Of course it's okay. Why would I ask if it wasn't?"

"People can be stupid like that, sometimes." He grinned at her raised eyebrow. "Ghosts, especially, like to offer things and then not follow through. Especially if they think that it'll get me off of their tails."

"What's the most alluring offer one has made you?" his dad asked, looking bright-eyed and curious.

Danny hummed, thinking it over for a moment. Or, more accurately, thinking if he should reveal the truth of not. And if yes, how to twist it in a way that wouldn't give anything away.

"I suppose… The one time a ghost offered to teach me, when I was new and struggling to control my powers." He looked away, one hand moving to rub his neck automatically. "He offered to help me. And he was so _genuine_ about it too – he really _did_ intend to follow through on it."

"But?" His mom unlocked the GAV, the sound of which almost hid the question. She had clearly caught on to his unsaid words.

"But the prize was too high. He really _did_ want to train me. But only in return for something I couldn't give him, couldn't let him do." And what a shame that had been. Vlad had been the first human to find out, and still was the only human that knew. He knew what it was like, to be a halfa. To have no one in the know.

But instead of supporting Danny, he threatened his family. And that wasn't something Danny could overlook.

"I'm sorry to hear that, kid." A massive hand landed on his shoulder, and Danny looked up to see his dad's sad expression. "Sometimes people are jerks. Ghosts, unfortunately, are no exception to this."

"I know." Danny sighed, shoulders slumping down. "But he was one of the first I met, and… I guess I really could've used that support, back then. It's better now – I have my ghostly allies, and," he looked up, "And I've got you two, as well. But I didn't have any of that back then."

His dad released him to clamber into the vehicle, and Danny followed by phasing through its walls. Once he was inside, his mom looked over her shoulder at him, with a far more fierce expression. "Is this a ghost we know? Because I would _love_ to tell him off, next time he comes around."

Danny snorted at the thought. Oh, if only. "Uh, yeah. He calls himself Plasmius, but you guys tend to call him the Wisconsin Ghost. I think I've mentioned him before."

"He's the one that tricked me into catching you, right?" Jack frowned, deep in thought. "The one I beat up in the lab when he tried to steal the Portal?"

"That's the one," Danny confirmed, lying down on his stomach mid-air, right behind and between his parents. "He's a real jerk. My arch-nemesis, if I had to pick one."

"Really?" The car roared to life, and Maddie started carefully turning it onto the road. "I would've expected a ghost we encounter more often. Plasmius we barely see."

Another snort. "The keyword there is 'see'. Plasmius comes here all the time to mess with me, but he knows how to stay hidden." It wasn't even _come_, really. Vlad was in Amity Park constantly. Hell, he was even the mayor! "He's sneaky, so no one but me knows how much he's here, really."

"Wow, that's… unfortunate." A creak as Jack shifted, uncomfortable. "Maybe we should look into making some kind of city-wide ghost radar. So ghosts like him can't escape our supervision."

He would really rather they _didn't_ do that. Because most of their radars picked up on Danny, and if they had them everywhere… Well, it would only be a matter of time before they caught him shifting from Fenton to Phantom.

"No, no, it's fine," he said hurriedly, holding up his hands. "I've got it handled. Besides, Plasmius can hide from ghost hunting equipment, just like I can." Well, from all equipment but the Fentons', but _that_ wasn't something they needed to know about.

"You sure?" His mom didn't look away from the road, so he couldn't see her face, but she sounded concerned enough. "We want to help, Phantom. You know that, right?"

He sighed. Somehow his parents always found a way to play on his emotions. _This_ was why he hadn't told his friends – because they would've wanted to help, no matter the danger. "I know, I know. But I've got it handled. Let me deal with the ghosts, and you two can focus on your research, yeah?"

A sigh. "Alright. But if you _ever_ need–"

"If I ever need help I'll come, I _promise_." He cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "Isn't that what I've been doing?"

"We're just worried about you, kid." The car came to a stop, but his dad kept talking. "You already admitted that no one helps you, and that most ghosts you're allied with stay in the Ghost Zone. And you've made it through the last two years, sure, but…" he trailed off, falling into silence.

Danny sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "I get it. I know, you're worried. But I'll be fine, okay? And I promise to come for help if I ever need it." God, and this was _without_ his parents knowing that this was their actual son. If they ever found out the truth…

Well, he was pretty sure that he would never leave the house again if they found out. Forget worries about them _studying_ him, they were gonna be too busy _parenting_ him.

"We're here, by the way." His mom undid her seat belt, and Danny jolted back to awareness. Indeed, they were in the Casper High parking lot. "Does your friend know we're coming?"

"Uh." Danny phased through the side of the car, waiting for a moment until his parents had left the vehicle as well. "Sort of? I asked him if I could introduce you guys to each other, but I didn't set a specific time or day or something like that."

"Go find him, then." His mom leaned back against the side of the car, loosely crossing her arms. "We're not breaking into a school during the weekend to look for a ghost if he's perfectly capable of coming outside."

"Yes ma'am." Danny jokingly saluted her, then dove into the building. It wasn't hard to find Sidney – the boy tended to stay close to their shared locker.

As they flew back towards the car – and Danny's parents – Sidney shot him a glance and asked, carefully, "Your parents, right? But they don't know?"

"Yeah." He phased through a wall, taking the more direct route outside. "And they think we're just on neutral grounds, not allies. We have a deal, so you're allowed to stay at Casper High and I keep an eye on you to make sure you don't go too far while picking on bullies."

Sidney nodded, and they emerged from the building. "Gotcha, buddy. Don't worry about me!"

"I'm never worried about you." Danny rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly. "You've been fine without me for 50 years, I'm sure you can handle yourself."

"Don't be so sure," Sidney said as they finally came close enough to the Fentons for them to be able to hear the conversation. "I might surprise you!"

"Surprise him how?" Jack asked, curious and excited. "Is this a ghost thing?"

"No." Danny rolled his eyes somewhat fondly. His dad and ghosts, really. "It's not important."

"Just some friendly ribbing," Sidney agreed with a nod. "As us teenagers do."

His mom shook her head disapprovingly, but didn't object. The expression on her face said more than enough – teenagers, right?

Then she put a smile on her face and offered her hand. "Sidney, yes? Nice to meet you, I'm Maddie Fenton, and this is my husband Jack."

"Pleasure to meet you as well." He smiled back, accepting the offered hand and giving it a firm shake. "I don't meet a lot of adults anymore, these days."

"What about the teachers?" Jack asked as he stepped forward to shake hands as well. "Or do they not count because you've met already?"

Sidney grimaced, releasing Jack's hand with a pinched look. "I usually avoid the teachers. They're not very fond of ghosts. And most seem uncomfortable with an old student haunting the halls, even if I predate most of their careers."

Maddie nodded with an understanding expression on her face. "That… makes sense. It's unfortunate, but certainly understandable."

"Indeed. Besides, more and more kids who get bullied a lot have been warming up to me." He glanced over to Danny, then added, "And Phantom and I have been getting closer, too."

"You're a hard guy to hate," Danny said with a shrug.

"So… What do you do, usually?" Jack clicked a pen, having grabbed a notebook. "You spend a lot of time in Casper High, and you scare off bullies, but surely you don't do that _all_ the time?"

"During the day, I attend a lot of classes." Seeing the concerned expressions, Sidney raised his hands placatingly. "Always invisibly, of course! But it's interesting to stay on top of the current material, to see the differences between my time and now. During the night I usually retreat to the Zone."

"How?" Maddie frowned, looking between Sidney and Danny. "You can't possibly be using our Portal, not that often."

"He has his own Portal in the school." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "It's an enchanted mirror, kinda. Sid is the only one who can use it, though, so you don't have to worry about anyone else coming through it and endangering the school."

Sidney nodded energetically. "Yes, what he said. And it's hidden in a place where n– where the students won't find it, so you don't have to worry about anyone getting hurt." Danny heard the barely swallowed '_normal_' Sidney had been about to say, and hoped his parents hadn't. Because it was an understandable mistake – it was hidden in Danny's locker, where no one else would find it. But Danny was a student, just not a _normal_ one.

"That's good," Maddie said approvingly. "I'm glad to hear that the two of you put so much thought into it."

"It's what I do." Danny shrugged, but couldn't stomp down the smile that crept on his face. Hearing his parents compliment Phantom never got old. "Keep people safe, that is."

"Both humans and ghosts, huh?" But Jack also smiled, clearly pleased. "You're a good kid, Phantom. And you as well, Sidney, from what I hear."

Sidney smiled in response, his aura brightening slightly. "Thank you, sir. I do what I can."

Danny opened his mouth to answer as well, but he felt his phone buzz in his belt pocket. Frowning, he pulled it out. It was his normal phone, but it was generic enough that he didn't expect his parents to recognize it.

That, and he had replaced it himself several times since they had last bought him a phone, so. If they hadn't noticed that Danny's phone had been replaced, they definitely wouldn't notice that Phantom had the same one as their son.

"If you still want to meet Johnny and Kitty we'll need to leave soon," he said, looking up from the screen and at his parents. "They just texted me to let me know that they plan on returning to the Zone."

Sidney rolled his eyes. "Oh, _those_ troublemakers."

"At least they're not bullies." Danny grinned, and Sidney sighed but didn't protest. Then he turned back to his parents. "It's up to you two. If you want to meet them I'll text them to ask if we can chat first."

"It would be interesting," his mom said carefully, her tone measured. She was clearly trying to find a way to agree without accidentally offending Sidney. "But…"

"It's fine." The full ghost smiled at her. "I completely understand. I'll be around if you want to pick up the conversation again another time."

"Well, thank you." She offered her hand again, and they shook. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Sidney."

"You as well, madam." Still smiling, he shook Jack's hand as well. "And you too, sir."

Danny, meanwhile, shot a quick text to Johnny. Looking back, he was glad that he had talked the couple into accepting a phone. Even if it wouldn't work in the Zone, it was handy for them to be able to text him to let him know if they were in the human world or not. Before, they just… dropped by. Which usually was at _extremely inconvenient_ moments, because that's just how Danny's life was.

Johnny agreed to wait in the park, and promised they wouldn't mention Phantom's human side or anything related to it.

"Alright, we can meet Johnny and Kitty in the park," he told his parents. Then he turned to Sidney, "And Sid, see ya later this week, alright?"

The ghost nodded, then waved. "Of course. Stay out of trouble, Phantom."

He gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "_Me_, getting in trouble? I would _never_."

Sidney didn't bother responding as he left, but Danny's dad snorted.

"Let's get going," his mom offered in lieu of a response. "Wouldn't want to keep those two waiting, right?"

"Right." Danny followed her back to the car, phasing through the wall again. "Although technically there are three of them. Johnny has a sentient shadow which follows his commands, and it's always near him."

He sat between his parents, floating cross-legged. "He calls it Shadow, which might be the least creative name I've ever heard."

"Pot calling the kettle black?" His dad quirked a brow. "Phantom isn't a very creative name for a ghost either, you know."

"But it's a _pun_," slipped out before he could really think about it, and Danny clamped his jaw shut. But it was too late – both his parents had clearly heard him. "It's, um. It's a pun based on my actual name."

"Oh," his dad said, far more quietly now.

"Don't worry about it." Danny scrambled to lift the mood again. "It's okay. I don't mention it to keep my old identity safe, you know? So I'm used to people commenting on it."

Jack nodded, but didn't answer. His mom offered no response either, focusing on the road instead. Danny tried to think of a way to break the silence again, but it lasted until they arrived in the park.

Then his parents spotted Johnny and Kitty, and promptly jumped out of the barely-stopped car.

"You!" his dad shouted, as Danny scrambled out after them. "You're the creep that dated Jazz!"

Johnny flinched back, half-stumbling over the bike he was leaning against. "I, uh."

"Stop!" Danny yelled, diving between the two groups and holding out his hands. The ghosts flinched back another step, clearly expecting an ecto-blast to follow.

Seeing this, Danny lowered his hands again. He floated backwards a little, so he could see everyone simultaneously.

"Look," he said, carefully. "Yes, Johnny and Kitty have both secretly dated humans before. And _yes_, Johnny dated your daughter Jazz before. But that's been resolved, and they _won't do it again_." The last part of the statement was underlined with a heated glare, which both ghosts answered with sheepish smiles.

"Exactly as he said, uh, sir." Johnny held up his hands, attempting to be placating. "I didn't mean her any harm, and Phantom has certainly made sure it won't happen again."

Danny barely repressed his snort. Didn't mean her any harm his ass – Johnny had wanted Jazz as a permanent host to Kitty. But Johnny had begged for another chance, and so had Kitty over the whole 'overshadowing Paulina' debacle.

And _sue him_ for giving them another shot. Less ghosts to fight was always good, right?

"If it helps, I keep a close eye on him now," Kitty tried, putting on her most trust-inspiring expression. Which wasn't terribly trustworthy, between her abstract coloration and her ragged clothes. "Johnny is done dating other girls, so it won't happen again, I promise."

The Fentons shared a few glances – a short but entirely silent conversation – before nodding. "Alright," Jack finally said, gruffly. "But if I see you close to my daughter _ever again…_"

"I hear you loud and clear." Johnny finally lowered his hands a little, shooting a mildly panicked glance at Danny. "But, uh. I think Kitty and I should be going. I just remembered that we promised Ember to drop by, and her lair is quite a ways away."

"_Smooth_," Danny hissed under his breath with a roll of his eyes. Then, at a volume everyone could hear, he added, "Yeah, alright. Get going then. Let me know if you come back, yeah?"

"Of course, Phantom." Johnny waved his phone demonstratively. "Actually, I believe some of the ghosts are looking into these phones, trying to find a way to make them work in the Zone as well. So maybe next time I could drop you a message beforehand."

"Really? That would be really useful, yeah." If they got it working, Danny would have to get phones to some of his other friends and allies. It would be nice to stay in more constant touch with his allies – not to speak of his friends, like Wulf. "If Technus is helping I might have to drop by and see if I can do anything to help. At the very least this project will keep him busy in the Zone instead of terrorizing the human world."

"Until he decides he needs some material from here and steals it," Johnny said with a shrug. "But I'll leave that to you, Phantom. See ya later!"

Kitty waved them goodbye too, and then the bike zipped off – a trail of green smoke following them.

"Well, um." Danny rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to face his parents fully. "That didn't quite go as I had planned."

"Did you know that that ghost has dated our daughter in the past?" It was his dad who asked, but Maddie behind him had a terribly scrutinizing expression on her face as well.

"I, uh. I knew that he had dated _someone_ without them knowing about him being a ghost," Danny admitted, carefully. "But I didn't know it was your daughter specifically, no."

"And you made sure they won't do it again?" His mom, now. Her expression had softened slightly, but not much.

"Absolutely." He nodded firmly. "I wouldn't let them hang out in the town without supervision if I wasn't absolutely sure. They were messing about for a while, penned up frustration and relationship struggles and all that stuff. But I made sure they sorted it out, and not being stuck in the Zone helps as well."

The two parents shared a look, then relaxed entirely.

"Sorry, it's just…" Jack shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "We're just used to seeing ghosts as invariably evil, you know? So knowing that one messed with our daughter…"

"No, no, I understand." And he _did_. Because Johnny had messed with _his sister_. And this, this structure, trusting Johnny and Kitty… It had been hard. "But I promise you that I'm keeping an eye on them. And, just like humans, ghosts can change their ways too. I don't want to force them to deal with the consequences of a single mistake for the rest of their existence, you know?"

Maddie sighed, but it was more fond than exasperated. "You're a good kid, Phantom. And you're right. It's just… It's just us being parents. Don't worry about it."

He nodded. "Will you make it back to the house alright? It's time for me to go on patrol, but if you want I can come with…?"

"Oh, no, we'll be fine." She flapped a hand, but smiled. "Thank you, though. It's appreciated. Stay safe, Phantom."

"And let us know if you run into problems!" Jack added, as he got back in the car as well.

"I will!" He waved them goodbye, a smile plastered on his face. The day might not have gone entirely according to plan, but it went alright. Better than he could've hoped, really.

And wow, cellphones in the Zone? Wouldn't _that_ be useful, if Technus could get it to work?

* * *

This... is the first time I have an author note on AO3 that doesn't apply here at all. So um. Thanks for the reviews? I know I don't usually reply to them on here (idk PMing feels too personal + serious for 'small' reviews) but I do love and appreciate every single one I receive! And indeed, weekly updates every Saturday - I have a buffer of about 2 chapters and I can manage writing one a week so it should be doable enough. Glad to see that it was well-received despite the long break between chapter 2 and 3, and I hope you'll stick around for the rest, as the story is currently planned to be 12 chapters long!


	5. Chapter 5

Danny capped the Thermos in his hand, releasing a tired sigh. The ghost – some random non-intelligent wolf – hadn't been strong, but it had proven exceptionally tricky to catch. Kept giving him the slip and was _just_ fast enough for Danny to struggle to close the distance between them.

But, finally, he got it. And it wasn't even _that_ late. Late in the evening, sure, but if he went home he would still have time to work on his homework!

He grinned at the Thermos in his hand, pleased. Just to be safe, though, he cast out his ghost sense. No, it seemed like this was the only ghost nearby…

An ectoblast whizzed by his ear, and Danny flinched away. Whirled around to face the shooter.

Valerie. Of _course_ it was Valerie. His one opponent that he couldn't just blast, the one that just wouldn't _believe_ him. Whose truces just wouldn't hold up, for no lack of trying on his part.

Valerie, who always insisted on seeing the evil Phantom did.

"Hey Red," he said, shooting her a short wave. She just growled in response, charging another shot.

"Not very talkative today, are we?" he tried again, keeping his hands lifted and in plain view. Hopefully she would calm down a little like this, if she knew he couldn't fight back.

And, well. If she shot anyway, he could easily raise a shield like this.

"Shut _up_," she snarled, and her gun fired simultaneously. Danny yelped and formed a shield.

It blocked the hit, but the impact still blasted him back. He hit a building, _hard_.

With a groan he dropped down onto the ground. Half-crumpled, he tried to sit up to keep an eye on Valerie.

"Come on," he complained, trying to keep the winded tone out of his voice. "What did I do _now_?"

She re-entered his view. Her board hovered only a foot above the ground, yet she hadn't retracted it. The gun in her hand whined as it loaded another shot.

"You know what you did." Her voice was firm. Unwavering. "Why I can't trust you."

"I really _don't_." He judged her hold on the gun, her aim. Braced himself, then shot a weak ectoblast right at the weapon.

The blast knocked her aim off, and the blast barely missed him.

Danny pushed himself off of the ground, zipping away. He just needed to throw her off of his tail – or to get out of her sight long enough to change back to human. He would risk walking home instead of flying if that got rid of her.

But her hoverboard has had some upgrades. And with Valerie's agility, it was almost enough to keep up with him.

Certainly good enough to keep him in her eyesight.

He dove around a corner, then screeched to a halt to avoid collision. In front of him stood two more ghost hunters, guns aimed right at him. The ecto-green elements glowed as the guns charged. Light glinted off of the goggles of the hunters, the red of the woman and the teal of the man.

Then the guns stopped whining, and Danny huffed out a relieved sigh.

"Phantom!" his dad greeted, pulling his hood off and revealing the bright blue eyes underneath. "You're in a rush! Chasing a ghost?"

"Uh, no." Before he could explain further, his sensitive ears picked up on the ever-present hum of Valerie's engines. And yep, there she was, rounding the corner he had just careened past.

"Phantom!" she roared, already lifting her gun up to shoot him. He yelped – in a very grown-up way, of course – and dove behind the massive bulk of his dad.

It was, maybe, an automatic response. These were his parents – it was their duty to keep him safe. Big and apparently powerful ghost hunting weapons _definitely_ counted as a threat they would keep him safe from.

But having _Phantom_ hide behind _Fenton_'s parents… might not have been the right thing to do.

Oh well, too late to turn back now.

Valerie faltered. The whine of her gun quieted, and its muzzle lowered. No matter the circumstances, Valerie would not – _could_ not – shoot humans.

"Phantom, _why_ are you hiding behind ghost hunters?" she asked, exasperated. Then, after a short pause, she turned to his parents. "Actually, why are you _letting _him?"

"Because… we don't want you to shoot him?" Jack said, uncertainly. He was half-turned, looking between Danny and Valerie. "Phantom is not a bad ghost, Red."

She snorted, disbelieving. "Yeah, right. You just want him for yourself."

"We're serious." His mom shifted into a more defensive pose. It didn't go unnoticed by Danny – and clearly not by Valerie either. Danny got the distinct feeling that Val was narrowing her eyes at them, but he couldn't tell with her helmet still on. "We've had a truce with Phantom for weeks. He's been helping us with our research."

"He's tricking you somehow." Valerie shook her head, dismissively. "Or he's controlling you, or something. There's no way that _he_– that any of this is real. I'm not falling for this, Phantom."

She raised the gun again, tilting her head as if she was considering taking the shot. Then she apparently decided it was impossible with the Fentons between them, as she lowered it again. She pointed between the visor of her helmet – where her eyes would be – and him. "I don't trust you, Phantom. And I don't know what you're doing here, with the Fentons. But I don't believe any of this."

Then, with a hum that turned into a roar, she shot off. Her engines left a faint pink trail, but it faded off quickly.

Confident that she really had left, Danny floated back over his parents to face them.

"Thanks." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "I, uh. Sorry that she didn't believe you."

"She really doesn't like you, huh?" His mom eyed him, but he couldn't read her expression with her goggles on. "Yet you don't seem like the type to do so on purpose."

He snorted, then shook his head. Dropped his hand again. "I didn't, I swear! But Cujo just ruined some of her things, and she thinks that he's my dog so she blames me for it."

"That's one hell of a grudge." But she pulled the goggles up again, and Danny could see that she wasn't angry – not at him, at least. "Must've been important to her."

"I dunno." Danny shrugged. Yes, Valerie's money had been important to her at the time, but now? He wasn't sure. He didn't spend a lot of time with her anymore, not after the dating fiasco a while back. "Maybe. Or maybe she's just full of spite and not ready to give up on her decisions."

His dad snorted, but wiped the smile of his face immediately when Maddie turned to him. "Yes, well. I thought you two worked together before?"

"We have," Danny acknowledged with another shrug. "But it was always only short-term. A bigger ghost, a badder ghost. And then once the troubles are over, Val- _Red_ decides I'm not to be trusted."

His parents shared a glance, clearly having caught the trip. _Dammit, Fenton_, he chastised himself mentally, _couldn't even keep Valerie's identity safe?_ But it was too late now. At least it wasn't her full name – not even her full first name.

"That's… unfortunate. In a city like this, we could really use all the help we can get hunting ghosts." Maddie pocketed her gun in her hip holster. "But if Red continues to threaten our ally, we can't consider her one either."

"Maybe we can convince her," his dad said hopefully. "It'll take time, sure, but it'll be worth it. Right, Phantom?"

"I, uh. I mean, yeah." He shifted, a little awkward. "If you can convince her, that would be great, yeah."

They nodded. Then his mom smiled at him. "And, Phantom? We'll take over patrol for you, alright? So she won't try to ambush you when you're alone."

He smiled back, brightly. "That's… That's really nice. Thanks. Thank you so much." This way he could focus on homework without even having to worry about ghosts popping up!

"Hey, it's no problem kid." His dad shrugged, also grinning. "It's our job, you know?"

"Right," Danny said, hesitant. Of course. His parents' job as _ghost hunters_.

Jack grimaced, then suddenly swung an arm around his shoulders. He pulled him against his side, despite the cold Danny knew he gave off. "Which also includes taking care of fellow ghost hunters, you know?" He ruffled Danny's hair. "Like you."

Cold crawled up Danny's neck and cheeks, and he knew he was blushing green. Embarrassed, he looked away – but he couldn't deny that he felt comforted nonetheless. "I– Thanks."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Jack released Danny again, but remained close. "Go do… whatever you do when you're not protecting the city. Be a kid, Phantom. You've earned it."

Ha! Be a kid. Doing homework counted as being a kid, he supposed. "Yeah. I… Yeah. Thanks, you two."

Danny smiled at his parents, then tugged on his invisibility. Certain that no one could see him anymore, he made his way back home.

The warm feeling in his chest remained with him for the rest of the night.

* * *

Mere days later, it was the weekend again. And, once again, Danny had made plans to visit his parents as Phantom. They had been busy this week – not with regular ghost hunting stuff, but with _him_, specifically. With finding ways to prove that Phantom wasn't as bad as people believed.

With proving to _Valerie_ that he wasn't all that bad.

So. Danny figured that they deserved a reward of sorts. A show of appreciation – even if they couldn't really know it was supposed to be that, because _Phantom_ had no way of knowing how much they were doing.

He rang the doorbell, then phased inside immediately. He floated in the hallway instead. Floating outside his own house invisible was tiring, so he figured he could shake it up a little instead.

"Phantom?" an uncertain voice asked, and Danny's eyes snapped to the staircase.

The staircase where Jazz stood. Whoops. He didn't know she was home.

"Hey," he said, shooting her a grin that he hoped wasn't shaky. "D'you mind if I steal your parents?"

She snorted, coming down the staircase to join him. "They could use some time outside the lab. What are you planning on doing with them?"

"There's this ghost in Casper High, dunno if you've heard of him." The two of them entered the living room, and Jazz sat down on one of the armchairs, then nodded that she was still listening. "The two of us have a deal. I took your parents to meet them a week or two ago, but we had to cut it off early. I figured we could go for a second meeting."

"Sidney Poindexter, right?" Jazz frowned, thoughtfully. "I've heard of him, but I wasn't sure if he was real. Lots of people say he is – that he hurts random popular people around Casper High, and all that."

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew they said that – but he also knew it was a lie. Or a twisted truth, at least.

"Sort of," he told his sister instead. "Sidney hates bullies – was bullied pretty much all his life, and his afterlife isn't much better. And, well. Most popular kids are bullies, and vice versa."

"Ah, I see." She nodded. "He picks on bullies and protects their victims because he used to be a victim himself. He empathizes. Fascinating… Ghosts really _do_ have the same emotional range as humans."

"Uh, yeah." Danny shrugged, glancing away. "People just don't realize it because of biased science by ghost hunters, and because most ghosts that leave the Zone are, well." He gestured vaguely. "Y'know."

"Violent and aggressive? Yeah, I know." She smiled knowingly – teasingly – and Danny felt the green creep back onto his face. Stupid _really obvious_ glowing blush! Stupid sister that did sister things.

In the silence that fell, Danny could clearly hear his parents scrambling around downstairs. They probably had a project they couldn't just put down. That was fine. He could wait.

"Could I… come along?" Jazz asked, breaking the silence again. Danny's eyes snapped over to her, surprised by the question.

"I, uh. Why?"

She shrugged, playing with a strand of her hair. Seemed uncertain now, like her question was more of a spontaneous outburst than properly thought out.

"I think it would be interesting to talk with… Sidney, right?" At his confirming nod, she continued. "Plus, he could use the socializing with more people his age. I don't think a lot of kids at school talk with him."

"They don't." He supposed Jazz was right. And Sidney would absolutely enjoy her company – they were both complete nerds. "And I guess you're right. Sid would enjoy the company. Just be aware that he slips into old-timey ways sometimes. Mostly speech, but…" Danny shrugged. "Well, you get what I mean, right?"

"I do." Jazz gestured over to the couch, and with a roll of his eyes, Danny perched on the arm of the couch. Not quite was Jazz had intended, based on her expression, but good enough. "Plus, I think he could use some psychiatric help. Bullying… it can hurt teenagers."

"I know." Danny sighed heavily. Despite Dash's love of Phantom, his bullying towards Fenton hadn't relented. And with his diminished friendship with Sam and Tucker, he had less hope of them distracting Dash. The only thing he had going for him was his supernatural speed – and his ability to turn invisible if he could get out of Dash's sight.

But the way she eyed him made him think he said something wrong. Slowly, hesitantly, she asked, "You were bullied?"

Danny shrugged, uncertain. It was true, sure. But it wasn't something he wanted associated with Phantom, per se.

"I… yeah." He couldn't think of a way to deny it. Might as well go with the flow, right? "A lot, actually. But it's okay. Well, not okay, but… it is what it is. There is no way to change it." The teachers never listen, anyway. Even if it's still ongoing, even if it's happening _right in front of them._ Bullies were never punished.

It was part of the reason why he was so eager to let Sidney have his way.

The calculating look in Jazz's eyes didn't go away. But her eyes did soften, and she smiled kindly. "That explains a lot, actually."

"About?" He frowned, confused. How did this change anything?

"About you." She shifted, looking at him earnestly. "I was wondering about that for a while, you see. Because even if you're not the only good ghost, you certainly are the only one _here_. And you said you did it to protect your friends, your family, but…" The pluck of hair was twisted, twirled, again. "But there had to be more. More of a reason, more stakes."

"What, the risk of my loved ones getting injured wasn't enough?" Danny's frown deepened as he looked at her.

"No, no." She raised her hands placatingly. "That's not what I mean. But not just anyone would do that, Phantom. Not just anybody would stand up to someone more experienced, and likely more powerful, than them just to protect others. But it makes sense now."

The frown fell away, and Danny shook his head. "I don't get it."

"It's easy. You were bullied in life. A lot, right?" The armchair creaked as she shifted again, her hands waving through the air as she spoke enthusiastically. "So now, in death, you have the power to stand up for yourself. But you don't just use it for yourself. You use it for _everyone_, everyone who can't do it themselves. The ghosts, the malevolent ones, are the bullies. And now _you_ are the person you wished had been there for you, before. The person who stops the bullies, who stops people from getting hurt."

"Oh," he said simply. She… she had a point. Looking at it this way, he supposed that he _had_ become the kind of person he wished to see sometimes. Like he had grabbed all the traits of the people he loved – of his parents and his friends – and mashed them together into Phantom's perfect persona.

"You're… really good at that." He huffed out a disbelieving laugh. Count on Jazz to psycho-analyze him regardless of form, and nail it as well. "Yeah, you should definitely come along and meet Sidney."

She grinned in response, opening her mouth to reply. But then thundering footsteps came from the lab, and their parents burst inside.

"Phantom!" his dad cheerily greeted, storming over to swing an arm around him. "Sorry to keep you waiting, kid!"

"It's alright." He grinned despite the rib-crushing strength of his dad, barely clinging on to the couch he was sat on. "Jazz kept me company."

"Really now?" Jack released him, then turned to look at Jazz. "Jazzy-Pants, how nice of you! Finally showing an interest in our profession, huh?"

"The psychology behind ghosts is fairly interesting – and unexplored." Jazz shrugged casually. "You, and all other ghost hunters, are so focused on the physical aspect that no one even realized that ghosts were just as complex as humans. It's really fascinating stuff."

Their mom nodded approvingly. "Yes, you're completely right. You should come down in the lab to talk about your findings sometimes, honey. If you get it sorted out, you could even publish a paper!"

"Maybe…" Jazz's expression was surprisingly thoughtful. She really seemed to be considering it, despite her former reluctance to associate with her parents – and ghosts in general. "I would like to focus on individual ghosts first, see if I can help them with their problems."

"A whole new approach to ghost hunting!" Jack clapped her on the shoulder, and Jazz almost fell out of her chair. "That's my kid!"

Maddie shook her head fondly, then turned back to Danny. "What earned us the pleasure of your visit today, Phantom? Dropping by for fun, or did you need us for something?"

"I figured we could go for another meeting with Sidney?" He shrugged. "Since we had to leave early last time. And Jazz said she was interested in meeting him as well, so."

"Well, that sounds like a good plan." Maddie nodded approvingly. "He was a nice young man, that's for sure. Will we meet him in the parking lot again?"

"I thought we could meet in the courtyard instead? I'll fly ahead to find him, and then we can sit down instead of standing around." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "If that's okay, of course."

"Sounds good to me. Jack, Jazz?" She turned to face the rest of the family, where Jazz was trying to free herself from her dad's arm. "That okay with you as well?"

Jack, who didn't seem to have heard any of the conversation, cheerfully agreed nonetheless. "Yeah, of course!"

"That's okay with me as well." Danny finally took mercy on Jazz and pulled their dad's arm off of her so she could escape. She shot him a grateful look, and he grinned in return.

"Then I'll get going." Danny pushed himself off of the couch, floating instead. "If you guys pick a spot, Sidney and I will find you."

"See you in a bit, Phantom!" his dad boomed, the sound following him even when he phased outside.

* * *

Finding his parents (and Jazz) proved as easy as he had expected. Besides the fact that the three of them were the only ones out here on a Saturday afternoon, two of them were also dressed in bright hazmat.

Yeah, the day Danny couldn't find his parents in a crowd was probably the day he would officially declare himself blind.

He took a non-existent seat at the head of the table, floating in the open space in a sitting position. Sidney took the only actual free seat, next to Jazz.

"Didn't keep you waiting, did we?" he asked, glancing at his family.

"You didn't, no worries." His mom flapped a hand, leaving the other resting on the hard wooden table. "We just sat down. Sidney, nice to see you again."

The ghost grinned back. "You as well, madam. And you too, sir." Then the boy turned to Jazz, straightening his glasses. "And I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, miss."

"I'm Jazz. Jazz Fenton." She extended her hand, and they shook. "You're Sidney Poindexter, right?"

"That I am," he confirmed, straightening his bow tie. "Has Phantom introduced me?"

"He has. But I heard about you at school as well." She twisted in her seat to face him properly. "According to Phantom, you help protect the kids who can't protect themselves."

Sidney blushed, his cheeks growing marginally darker and faintly green. "Ah, yes, well. I try my best."

"And you do a good job of it, especially considering your past." Smiling, she pushed herself out of her seat. "Speaking of which… Would you mind sitting down to talk in private?"

"Um." Sidney glanced between her and Danny. Knowing what Jazz was trying to achieve, Danny nodding reassuringly.

"Sure," Sidney said, floating up as well. "Shall we take a seat at a nearby table, then, so your parents won't get worried?"

"Sounds good." Jazz turned back to the Fentons. "We'll be just over there, okay?"

"Sure sweetie." Maddie smiled, and the three of them watched as Sidney and Jazz left. Once they were sure that the two were out of earshot, Maddie sighed, pleased. "We don't deserve her."

"She's a good person," Danny agreed, also looking at his sister and his friend. "She'll do a lot of good things with her life, I'm sure."

"I just… worry, sometimes." Maddie shifted, and Danny looked back at her, confused. "About both our kids, I mean. I… We know we're not the most conventional parents. And sometimes, I fear… I'm afraid that we're hurting them."

She sighed, deeply and wearily. Jack wrapped an arm around her before she continued. "Especially with how busy we've gotten nowadays. And Jazz will be going to college soon, and Danny is growing apart from us as well, spending less and less time with us… And I can't help but worry. Are we doing the right thing?"

"I think…" Danny swallowed, heavily, then tried again. "I think you're doing your best, and I think your kids know it. Parenting… Parenting isn't easy, and neither are teenagers." He huffed out a laugh. "Being a teen isn't easy either. But I'm sure your kids know that you're trying, and… and I wouldn't worry so much. Everything will be okay."

Maddie nodded, and her gloved hand wrapped around Danny's. "It's a parent's job to worry, Phantom. Just because it's not necessary doesn't mean I can stop."

But she smiled, kindly. "But… thank you. Hearing that helps a lot."

"I'm glad to be able to help." Danny glanced back to where Jazz and Sidney sat, and felt his own lips twist up. "And I think your daughter is doing the same for Sidney."

* * *

"What, um." Sidney paused, uncertain. Sure, Danny seemed to approve of this conversation but Sidney had no clue what the intention had been. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally reveal his friend's secret identity.

And, above all, how were you supposed to talk to the sister of your best friend if she didn't know that her brother was the best friend of a ghost _or_ that he was part ghost himself?

"What did I want to talk about?" Jazz smiled kindly. Sidney would be lying if he said it didn't help soothe him. "Phantom mentioned something interesting about your past earlier today, and I wanted to talk with you about it."

So… nothing about Danny's secret identity? Oh, good.

"Oh. What, uh. What was it?" He couldn't deny being curious. And… perhaps he _did_ miss talking to other teenagers. Danny was nice, but they weren't very similar. But Danny _had_ often compared Sidney to his sister – said they were both studious nerds, and all that.

Jazz shifted, laying her arms on the table on front of her. Sidney had sat down on the bench in front of her, but was now growing increasingly uncertain at her relentless gaze.

"According to Phantom, you used to be bullied, back when you were alive." Oh. _Oh_. Was this what she wanted to talk about? Seeing his probably panicked expression, Jazz continued to speak with a soothing tone. "Bullying… It can have a heavy impact on a teenager. And, I don't know if you know this, but I have… a bit of an interest in psychology."

This, Sidney _did_ know. Danny griped about it _a lot_. That, and he joked about it a lot – about how Jazz would be _thrilled_ if she found out about the Phantom thing, from a psychological standpoint.

"I think few would know that better than I," he ended up saying. After all, of the many that had suffered from bullying, most didn't stick around. Not like he had. "That's why I protect the kids now. To make sure none suffer like I have."

She seemed saddened by this knowledge, catching on the unsaid words. "That's really noble of you, Sidney. But…" Jazz shifted, folding her hands together in front of her. "But you're still around, so your old experiences can still hurt you. _Are_ still hurting you, I think."

"Maybe so," he acknowledged with a loose shrug. He supposed that he was catching onto Danny's manner of speech, but it was to be expected. The kid was pretty much the only person he spoke to, nowadays. "Most ghosts are still hurt by their old lives. It's why they stick around as ghosts, you know? Happy people don't become ghosts."

"Then all of those ghosts deserve help. And I don't know if I can help all of them, but _you_, you I can help." She grabbed his hand, ignoring that the limb must've felt uncomfortably cold in her hand. He couldn't help but lock eyes with her, the bright teal gazing back. "Sidney, your experiences have been hard and unkind. Traumatizing, even. Please, let me help."

"I…" He didn't know where he wanted to go with this. He didn't know what he wanted to say. Didn't know what to think.

What did it say about his life, that he was caught off-guard so badly by such a kind offer.

"I would really appreciate that," he managed finally. "I… Besides Phantom, no one has ever… just been _kind_. There was always a plot behind it, or a trick, or… or something else. Never out of the kindness of one's heart."

Something about the Fentons, despite how strange they were, worked. Because both their children were so _wonderful_.

It made Sidney sad, sometimes, that no one knew what Danny really did. What he was really like. That no one appreciated Danny Fenton, because he could do more good as Phantom – and he was okay with that. With sacrificing everyone's opinions of him, just for that.

"Good," Jazz said with a firm nod. She released his hand, but patted the top of it comfortingly. "And if you ever want to talk… Well, I'll be around for the rest of the school year for sure."

"You don't… mind? That people would see you talk with a ghost?" _'With me'_ went unsaid.

But Jazz just shrugged. "People know my family as those ghost-nuts anyway. It's much better now that everyone knows ghosts really exist." Her lip twisted into a smile. "Besides, people don't get to pick and choose which ghosts they accept. If they are fine with people talking to Phantom, then they don't get to throw a fuss about me talking to you."

"But what if they _do_?" He didn't want her to get punished because of him. He was just… He was just _Sidney_. Nobody special, even after death.

"I don't care." She looked firm, set in her ways. "They don't get to decide what I do with my life, and who I talk with. And if the teachers get worried, I can tell them that my parents and Phantom both approve of you. That should get them off my back."

"Oh." He wasn't… wasn't used to anyone making such an effort for him. Danny tried, usually, but Danny was busy. Had a lot going on for him. Which was why Sidney tried to help to the best of his abilities, of course, but.

But this was different. _Nice_ different.

"Um. Thank you." He smiled at her, shaky and uncertain but heartfelt. "Really, thank you."

Then he glanced over to the other table, seeing three pairs of eyes watching them. "But we should probably rejoin the others."

"Yeah, probably," she said with a laugh. "But seriously, Sidney. Talk to me, okay?"

He nodded. Then, the words slipping out without him fully intending to, he said, "You can call me Sid. If you want."

"Sid?" Her smile widened. "Yeah, of course. Now come on, Sid, before they get worried."

* * *

Let Jazz have friends! _Let Jazz have friends!_

And the Fentons continue showing off their excellent parenting game. Now by parenting their actual children as well, whoohoo!


	6. Chapter 6

Now the right chapter! Sorry guys, must've misclicked while uploading and didn't notice because I was in a rush. :'D

* * *

Danny laid back on his bed, staring at the blank ceiling above him. Not that he was really taking it in. He was too occupied with his thoughts. Thinking about his life, about his parents and their relationship with Phantom… All of the recent events, really.

Because the relationship between his parents and Phantom was mending. And that was good, right? He had come by a couple times so far, tried to visit every weekend to encourage this. To have them look at him with pride and love and… well, like a son.

But between the way they looked at Phantom and the way they looked at him… The way they talked about their own son instead of the ghost they hated so much…

It was starting to feel like maybe he was getting ignored. Falling away. And it wasn't his parents' fault, of course – it was _him_ who kept choosing to spend time with them only as Phantom. Who hid himself away, afraid of…

Of what, really?

Not of getting revealed as a ghost, not really. If they could be so nice to Phantom, they would be the same to him – whether they discovered he was Phantom or not.

And _that_ wasn't it either. Sure, he was still trying to avoid being outed as Phantom, but not because he was afraid of them. He was afraid _for_ them. That they would limit him, distract him, try to help and endanger themselves…

But neither of those were good reason to explain why Danny _Fenton_ kept avoiding his parents. Was it because of the way they looked at him, wistfully? Knowing what _could_ be, if he wasn't in his room so much? If his grades would pick up further, his attendance not as bad?

Of the way they treated Phantom like their son because their _real_ son refused to spend time with them?

He groaned before rolling over onto his stomach. Buried his head into his pillow and groaned again, muffled. Why was his life such a mess?

Already he was regretting his decision not to visit as Phantom today. He'd had planned to spend time with them as Fenton instead, but… but what if something came up? If a ghost attacked?

Phantom could leave easily – it was what he was expected to do. Danny, however, would have to come up with an excuse. And a good one, more than likely. And _boy_ was he a bad liar, despite his years of practice.

That, and he couldn't think of a good way to breach the subject. It felt awkward, to just walk to his parents and tell them he wanted to spend his Saturday with them.

What if they asked him why now? What if they asked him what changed? Why he wanted to be with them now and not before?

He didn't know the answer to that. Well, he _did_, but he didn't know what to tell them. It wasn't like he could tell them that he was spending so much time with them as a ghost that he was starting to feel like his normal life was getting neglected. That wouldn't go over well, truce with Phantom or not.

Burying his face even deeper into the pillow, Danny groaned a third time. What he wouldn't give for an excuse to get out of this stupid loop in his thoughts.

The doorbell rang, and he jolted up. Who on Earth rang the Fenton's doorbell? The only person who has, recently, was Phantom. But _he_ was Phantom, so that couldn't be it.

He was already out of his room and in the hallway upstairs when he heard his dad open the door.

"Vlad?" the man asked, voice tinged with confusion and a hint of fading exuberance. He'd been expecting Phantom, of course. Danny would enjoy the fact that his dad was happier about seeing him than Vlad more if he hadn't been feeling so conflicted about it earlier.

"Vlad, how nice to see you!" Maddie said, now also appearing from the kitchen. "What's the occasion?"

"Must I have a reason to visit my friends?" Vlad stepped inside, leering at Maddie. "Can I not come visit just because I want to?"

The frown on Maddie's face suggested that she certainly didn't feel so, but she didn't protest. Instead she led them further inside, where the three of them sat down. Maddie, tactfully, sat down in the armchair so Vlad couldn't take a seat next to her.

Seeing that no one had noticed him, Danny ducked back inside his room. He wanted to keep an eye on them, but he had no desire to interact with Vlad if he didn't _have_ to. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Vlad was here for a reason. And knowing the man like he did, that reason either involved him, his mom, or both.

Danny let the cold power of his ghost form wash over him, glad that there were no ghost sensors in the house anymore. There had been, for a while, until his parents (and him, and Jazz) got tired of them all responding to Danny.

Sometimes he really wondered how no one had figured out he was Phantom. Besides Vlad, that is.

He turned himself invisible and intangible, then sunk through the floor. In the living room, the three adults were still talking about nothing in particular – still small talk, it seemed. Not that Danny had been out of earshot for long, but you never knew with Vlad.

Taking position behind and above the couch, he let go of his intangibility. No one would notice him as long as he was invisible, and he only needed his intangibility to prevent the breeze he caused while flying. Both his parents _and_ Vlad were around invisible ghosts enough to tell when one was present, otherwise.

The small talk lasted for a bit longer, although Danny tuned out most of it. He had to, really – if he heard another word of Vlad attempting to woo his mom he would puke and blow his cover.

And then finally, _finally_, Vlad brought up the topic he had _wanted_ to talk about – or so Danny assumed.

"Say, I've heard the most ridiculous rumor about you two lately…" Vlad shifted, folding his hands together in his lap. "People are saying that you two are working with Phantom – that you three have a truce. Unbelievable, the kind of things people come up with."

Jack and Maddie shared an uncertain glance, then Jack cleared his throat. "Well, actually. We kind of _do_ have a truce with Phantom." He scratched his cheek, an uncomfortable and shaky smile on his face. "We've been working with him for a couple weeks. He helps us with our research, we help him with ghost hunting, you know?"

Vlad's face fell. "You're… _what_? You are working together with– with–"

"With Phantom, yes." Maddie's eyes narrowed. "That is not a problem for you, surely? As the mayor, you must realize how much Phantom helps this town. If it wasn't for him, human hunters would have to be hired – and paid. Meanwhile Phantom does it for free, at any time of day."

"Yes, well." Vlad shifted, clearly uncomfortable. Danny wasn't sure where Vlad had heard of his new alliance with his parents, but he clearly hadn't believed the stories. Whether one of the ghosts had told him, or Valerie had, or maybe he really _had_ heard rumors about it in the city… Vlad obviously hadn't thought that the Fentons would ever willingly join forces with Phantom. Ha! Joke's on him.

"I am simply… surprised," he finally managed. "The two of you were so… strongly against him. What made you change your mind?" A glance over to Jack, then a quick correction. "Minds, I mean."

Oh. _Oh_. He probably thought that Danny's parents had discovered his secret, and that _that_ was why they were working together now. That… made a lot of sense.

"I suppose we just saw a different side of him," Maddie said, slowly. Picking her words with care. "And we came to realize that he was… not who we thought he was."

"Yes, exactly." Jack nodded energetically. "The kid's got power, but he needs guidance. Help. And we're perfect for the role, right Mads?"

Vlad's face twisted in a complicated mess of emotions. Quite honestly, it was beyond Danny's ability to decipher. "I see."

Then he suddenly stood up, wiping imaginary dirt off of his clothes. "Well, I'm sorry to say that that was all the time I had today. I simply must be going."

Danny watched the man storm out, a little surprised. He figured that Vlad would've been annoyed to discover that his parents no longer disliked Phantom, but this seemed a little… extreme.

Should he… Should he follow Vlad? Sure, the man caused trouble a lot, but if he hadn't been expecting this twist he wouldn't have a plan yet. Right?

Yeah. Yeah, that seemed about right. For now, Danny knew enough about Vlad and what he was working on. There was nothing to be gained from further reconnaissance except a potential fight.

Having thus made up his mind, Danny moved back to his room. He sat down on his bed, legs hanging off of the side, and switched back to human form. Holding invisibility for longer stretches of time was, unfortunately, still tiring. Maybe his parents had been right about regularly training his powers… Building more stamina and endurance certainly couldn't _hurt_.

Before he could put too much thought into the matter, however, his core stirred to life. Energy flooded through his system and cold air forced itself out via his mouth – his ghost sense.

Danny cursed, pressing his hands on his eyes. "Jinxed it," he muttered under his breath. Of _course_ Vlad wouldn't leave it at this. More than likely he had left for the nearest hiding spot to swap to Plasmius.

Briefly, he considered the option of simply… not going. Vlad's ecto-signature wasn't one he could recognize, but the strength and timing checked out perfectly. And Vlad was here just for _him_, probably.

But if Danny didn't come, Vlad would cause trouble and _force _him to come, more than likely. The man didn't like to be ignored. So it was safer – and better for the town _and_ his reputation – if he went.

That didn't mean that he had to _like_ it, though.

Light washed over him as he shifted back into Phantom, and Danny flew out of his window. Invisibly, of course.

Tracking down Vlad was easy – his ghost sense allowed him to hone in on other ghosts as long as they were within reach.

Plasmius hovered over a mostly empty street, glaring up a storm. Pink ectoplasm sparked around his hands, but it seemed more like an extension of his angrily flickering aura than an actual attempt at an attack. At least he was high enough that no one would be able to overhear them.

Having released his invisibly on the way there, Danny flew into Vlad's view, fists clenched.

"Vlad! Haven't you caused enough trouble yet?" he taunted, knowing how much Vlad _hated_ his quips.

"Daniel, how nice of you to finally show up." Despite the smooth purr in his voice, Vlad's flaring aura showed that he was still more than a little angry. "Perhaps you could do me a pleasure, my dear boy, and tell me what on _Earth_ you were thinking. Giving away your secret to your parents?"

He snarled, baring his fangs. "Risking _my_ secret as well?! What about our deal, you buffoon!"

Danny's aura flickered brighter in response, his fingers digging deeper into his palms. "Our _deal_?! Oh, because you've done _such_ a great job of following that as well, huh?" He blew out a breath, loudly, then continued with a calmer – but still forced – tone. "But you don't have to worry about our _secret_, jeez. My parents don't know – they don't even know that Phantom is only half ghost, only that he's weird."

"Oh, don't try to trick me, Daniel." Vlad balled his fists as well, the pink sparks swirling into lit balls of ectoplasm. His voice had dropped into more of a hiss than the purr he normally spoke with. "Like your parents would go against _decades_ of hatred for any reason beside their oh-so precious _family_."

"I'm serious!" Danny protested, or tried to. He barely got the words out before a blast of pink hit him in the chest, blowing him several feet away – and toppling him head over heels.

One hand still smoking, Vlad raised his other and aimed it at Danny. "You won't fool me, _boy_."

He underlined the statement by firing his other shot. Legs melting into a tail, Danny barely managed to dodge it.

"Come on!" he shouted back, forming a heated ball of ectoplasm himself. "I'm telling you, it's the–"

A blast of heat against his back, pushing him downwards. He hit the street with a crash and a groan. Man, he hoped he hadn't broken any bones. It was rare, these days, but such a frigging pain.

Danny pushed himself out of the crater, hovering just above street level. Vlad was lowering himself slowly, his cape spread wide in the wind. Dramatic bastard.

"Have you learned your lesson yet, little badger?" he sneered, his aura still spiking around him like flames. "That you are _nothing_ without me?!"

Vlad opened his mouth to say more, but a white-hot blast of ectoplasm hit him right in the cheek. His mouth snapped shut, head whirling around to glare at the point of origin. Danny, too, turned to look – he hadn't been the one to fire.

And there stood his mom, hands wrapped around an ecto-gun with its end still smoking. Her hood was down, her red goggles glinting in the light. Behind her was the massive bulk of his dad, holding an equally enormous ecto-bazooka.

"Sorry to interrupt," his mom said, not sounding sorry in the slightest, "But I'm afraid I don't quite agree."

Vlad's eyes narrowed, flicking between Danny and his parents. His aura flared, almost impossibly, even brighter. "Is that so?" he asked, voice a low hiss. "What makes you think you can intervene? It's not like you're his _parents_, are you?"

"No," Jack said, so simply that Danny could almost _see_ the pain it caused Vlad. "But we _are_ his allies. And if you want to get to him, you'll have to go through _us_." For extra emphasis, he pressed down on the trigger at the last word, making the gun hum as it prepared a shot.

Danny took the distraction for what it was and moved closer to his parents. Whether Vlad would go for him or them, he didn't know – but he couldn't risk it either way.

He couldn't help but notice the onlookers, however. The few people that had been in the street were now watching the spectacle, wide-eyed. The cat was out of the hat, he supposed. After today, all of Amity Park would know about the fact that he was working with the Fentons.

The smoke around Vlad's hands thickened into ecto-fire again as the man eyed up his targets. Danny took position in front of his parents – but kept enough space for both of them to fire around him if necessary.

Apparently they posed enough of a threat, because Vlad extinguished his hands again.

"Fine," he huffed, his aura dimming only slightly. "Fine, have it your way. But know this, little badger. You might've won the battle, but you won't win the war."

And with that only _slightly_ dramatic speech, he grabbed the edge of his cape. Swept it over himself in a grand display and faded into pink smoke as he teleported away. To his mansion, probably. Didn't matter much to Danny, anyhow.

He lowered his hands, knowing that Vlad had left entirely – no traces of energy which indicated duplicates. Then he turned to his parents, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck.

"Thanks for, um, protecting me." He grinned, a little awkward. "I really appreciate it."

"Of course kiddo!" Jack let go of his weapon with one hand, clapping it on Danny's shoulder instead. "We said we would help you, didn't we?"

"And I've been waiting for a chance to tell him what's what since you told us about him," his mom confessed, also lowering her weapon. "Not to mention for the times he has threatened me or Jack."

Danny glanced over at the crowd, but they remained distant. Still, he lowered his voice a little so they couldn't overhear. "Sorry that I didn't drop by today. I've been… busy."

The massive hand on his shoulder lifted again, and Jack shot him a friendly smile. When he spoke, he also dropped his volume – as much as Jack Fenton can, that is. "Don't worry about it, Phantom. We enjoy your visits, but they are in no way a mandatory event."

"I know, I know." He shrugged, loosely. "But it became a bit of a habit, to visit on Saturdays. And I didn't want you to worry if I didn't show up, but I also didn't want to just zip by because I would've wanted to stay when I couldn't and…" he trailed off into silence, shooting them a faltering and lopsided grin. "Y'know?"

"It's fine, honey." His mom holstered her gun, then uncertainly balled her fist like she had to force herself not to touch him – comfort him. "You're allowed to have your own life, even if you're not longer among the living. Just… Come by when you're not as busy anymore, please? We really _do_ enjoy your company."

"I will." Danny nodded. "I, uh. I should really get going again – busy, you know? – but um. I'll try to come by again this week, if that's okay? Next weekend, for sure."

"We'll look forward to it." His mom smiled as well as she pulled down the hood. "See you soon, Phantom."

"Yes, indeed. Stay safe, Phantom." Jack raised a hand to wave him goodbye, and with a grin Danny returned the gesture.

As he zipped away and towards his home again, he ran over the events in his head. After today, everyone would know about the truce – the alliance – between Phantom and the Fentons. What kind of consequences would that have?

Knowing how things tended to turn out for him… nothing good, probably.

* * *

When his mom called for dinner, Danny was still feeling kind of guilty about lying to his parents. He hadn't been busy at all, unless you count moping about life and how difficult relationships were. Not romantic relationships, but the strange familial ones he had with his parents.

It was just… It was just weird. And hard. He didn't want them to know about him being Phantom, about what he did and how much danger he regularly put himself in. Didn't want them to risk themselves trying to protect him.

But wouldn't they anyway? Weren't they getting so close to Phantom that they would throw themselves in front of an angry ghost just to keep him safe, even if he wasn't their actual son?

Would it be better if he stopped doing this? If he stopped getting so close to them as a ghost, stopped pretending to be their son when he was Phantom and _started_ being their son again as Fenton?

That. That would probably be a good idea regardless. If he could get closer again without them questioning him too much, without them trying to dig into his secrets again.

He sighed and rolled off his bed, trudging downstairs. Jazz had already gone – he had heard her skitter by while he was still, for the lack of a better word, brooding.

"Hey kiddo," his dad greeted him cheerfully when he entered the kitchen. "You wouldn't believe who came by to visit today!"

Danny sat down in his usual chair, quirking a brow at his dad. Pretended not to know the answer already. "Was it Vlad or Phantom?"

Jazz looked up from her book, intrigued. Right. She had been in the library all day, she wouldn't have known that either had come by.

"Vlad came by to visit, but we talked with Phantom as well." Maddie placed the steaming pan of mac and cheese on the table in front of them. "Apparently he was too busy to visit this weekend, but he said he would drop by later."

"He was _busy_?" Jazz repeated, half incredulous and half intrigued. "I wonder with what? Do you think that he finally told his parents – or his friends – about who he used to be?"

No, it was just a dumb lie. And how dearly he regretted ever telling it – count on Jazz to start psycho-analyzing a ghost she barely knew based on a single shoddy lie.

To distract himself Danny started spooning some food onto his plate. It was steaming hot still, but whatever. He would just have to wait a little longer before he could start eating it as a form of distraction.

"I don't think so sweetie," his mom said, enthusiastically continuing the conversation. "He didn't seem emotionally affected. But a while back a few ghosts were talking about figuring out a way to get mobile phones working in the Ghost Zone, and Phantom expressed an interest in helping with that. Maybe he was busy doing that, instead."

"But if he was in the Zone, how did he show up so quickly?" His dad leaned forward, leaning his massive weight on a single arm on the table. "Supposedly Plasmius hadn't been around for too long before Phantom showed up. And he can detect ghosts, sure, but not while in another dimension."

"Unless another ghost saw Plasmius and warned Phantom," Maddie suggested, now scooping some dinner onto her own plate. "We don't know how Plasmius arrived here, but if he came from the Ghost Zone a ghost might've spotted him."

Danny blew on a bite of macaroni before sticking it into his mouth. Why were they still talking about this? Surely he wasn't _that_ interesting?

"I suppose that that's possible," Jazz agreed with a nod. She moved to scoop some food on her plate as well. "Still, I hope he tells his loved ones sooner rather than later. It would be good for both sides, I think, to have that resolution."

"Hopefully we helped mend their opinion today." Jack took the pot and emptied the rest of it onto his plate. "Now that people know that we're working with Phantom, maybe his parents will take that as a sign that he's not that bad. And then he won't be afraid to tell them!"

Oh yeah, _that_ was why he still hadn't told them. Uh huh. It definitely didn't have anything to do with him worrying about them stopping him from helping or anything.

"What do you think, Danny-boy?"

Danny snapped out of his thoughts, fork lifted halfway to his mouth. "Huh?" he asked, eloquently.

"What do you think, Danny? About Phantom telling his parents about who he used to be when he was alive?" his dad helpfully repeated.

"Oh, um." Danny put the fork down again. Jeez, what a loaded topic. Wasn't dinner conversation supposed to be lighthearted? "I guess… it would be good? If he told them, I mean. A secret like that, you can't hide forever. Better to tell it on his own than wait for them to discover it in some horrible way, right?" Not that would stop him from hiding it for the next eternity, but still.

Jazz nodded energetically, swallowing a bite of her mac and cheese. "Yes, exactly! His parents – and his friends – deserve to know what has become of him. And Phantom himself could really use the support of his loved ones. I can't imagine the strain it puts on him, knowing that his parents hate him."

Danny could imagine it _very easily_, actually. But, thankfully, it was no longer a thing he had to worry about. No, nowadays his only worries about revealing his identity was that his parents would get even _more_ smothering.

To distract himself from those thoughts he scooped another bite of food into his mouth. Then he hissed, spluttering – he forgot to blow on it to cool it down.

"Danny!" his mom scolded, her tone worried. "Be careful!"

"S_rr_y," he said, sticking out his tongue to cool it. Oh, how he wished that he could use his ice powers without making his eyes glow. "F'got to blow."

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Then don't eat so quickly. Why are you always in such a hurry, Danny? It's like you never want to spend time with us."

Uh oh. Now _that_ was a dangerous topic. He pulled his tongue back into his mouth so he could talk properly. "That's not it, I swear! It's just– I'm just–" He shrugged, at a loss for words. "Just being a teenager, you know?"

Maddie's eyes trailed over to Jazz, who sat primly as she forked away her own dinner. Jack, too, was spooning away his dinner at a remarkable speed – clearly trying to stay out of the conversation.

Once her eyes returned to him, they had softened. But Danny could still see the fire lingering in them. "I'm just worried about you, Danny. Your grades and attendance have been so poor for the last two years, and you hardly spend any time with us anymore."

He shrugged again, eyeing his dinner. But there was no way he could get out of this conversation by just stubbornly turning back to his dinner – not without risking what remained of his relationship with his parents. "I know. But it's just…"

A heavy sigh as he put down the fork again. He looked up, looked her right in the eye – and then turned to do the same with his dad. "There's nothing wrong, okay? Don't worry about me. I love you guys, and I know you love me too. I'm just… you know."

"Some teenagers just need space," Jazz supplied, finally coming to his rescue. Imagine the good she could do if she knew about him being Phantom. And imagine how much she would chew him out if she found out – _yikes_. "Being anti-social is just part of the deal sometimes. The best we can do is be supportive."

Danny nodded his agreement. "Yes, exactly. It's not that I don't love you, because I _do_. But I just want to spend time alone or with my friends."

"And that's fine." Maddie glanced over to Jack, clearly hoping for some support, but the man just shoved another forkful of food into his mouth and smiled apologetically. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Danny. "But parents worry, and a mother especially. And I suppose… Seeing Phantom as we do now, it reminds me of how things could be."

Stiffening slightly – and hopefully unnoticeably – Danny swallowed the bite of food in his mouth. "How so?"

She sighed, weary and sad. "It's just hard to see him without imaging you in his shoes. You're the same age, I think, and… It could've been you. A dead teen with family and friends living in Amity Park, hated by his own parents for becoming a ghost?"

Well, um, oof. "But it's _not_ me," he tried, despite it being a bare-faced lie. It fitted so perfectly because it _was_ him. "So you don't have to worry, Mom. And I know… I know that you would always love me, ghost or not. So I would– I would tell you, if that ever happened to me." Wow, another dirty lie. Good going, Fenton.

"But it won't." His dad gently gripped his mom's shoulder. "He's a Fenton, Mads! Nothing will happen to him."

"I know." The corner of her mouth quirked up a little, the barest hint of a smile. "But a mother worries."

Jazz put down her fork with a clink, her plate cleared. "And that's perfectly normal, mom. But Danny'll be okay. No ghostliness for him, right Danny?"

He swallowed, grinned hesitantly. "Yeah, right. I'm perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about."

* * *

Not a whole lot of cute stuff OR Phantom in this chapter, I know, but people (rightfully so!) pointed out that I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to Danny's human form and how his relationship with his parents worked out. Also action scenes are suffering.


	7. Chapter 7

If you got here early last week (as in, within the first few hours of me updating) you might've noticed that I accidentally uploaded chapter 5 again instead of chapter 6! Thanks to your reviews I fixed it quickly, but I'm sorry to say it still happened, whoops. If you haven't read Danny and Vlad squabbling yet, you might want to go back and read the real chapter 6 before this one!

As for this chapter, it's an 8k monster so if you're not prepared to read this many words quite yet, maybe hold off on reading this for later. It's (almost) all nice and fluffy but it's also quite a time drainer, haha.

* * *

Danny knew, logically, that this wasn't the best moment to go visit his parents as Phantom. It was the middle of the week, after all, just after school. He should be working on his homework, or patrolling the city, or something. Not this. Definitely not this.

He rang the doorbell anyway.

The door swung open, his dad's head poking out. "Phantom?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Hey Jack." Danny twitched his spectral tail, even if the man couldn't see it – he was invisible, after all. "I promised I would drop by, didn't I?"

"You did." Jack stepped back and opened the door further, a clear sign for Danny to enter. "Not as busy anymore?"

"Nope." He let the invisibility leech away now that the door was closed. "But I also used this time to prepare something neat for today."

"Really now?" His dad looked intrigued, wandering further into the house and towards the kitchen. "Well, I assume you won't tell me unless Mads is around to hear it as well." Danny nodded, and he continued. "Down to the lab we go, then."

"Hold on one moment," Maddie said as they entered the lab. Something in her hands clicked – a part in the machine finding its place – and she nodded appreciatively. Then she turned around to face Danny and Jack. "Phantom, I hope you've been well?"

"Uh." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, unsure. "I mean, yeah? No worse than usual, I guess. But, um. I arranged some things for today, if you're interested."

"Oh?" She pulled her goggles up, a spark of interest in her eyes. "Are we meeting more of your allies, then? I thought none of them left the Ghost Zone?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, I, uh. If you're okay with going in the Zone, I arranged that you could go meet some of my more established allies. Frostbite and his yetis in the Far Frozen, and Queen Dorathea in the Kingdom of Aragon, although we probably won't get around to that today."

"I don't know, Phantom. We've never been in the Ghost Zone before." Maddie frowned. "The Specter Speeder _should_ be ready, but…"

"But won't this be one of your best shots?" Danny continued after she'd trailed off. "It won't get much safer than if I'm by your side protecting you, right? Plus I know how to navigate the Zone, so there's no risk of you getting lost."

"He's got a point, Mads." Jack looked rather excited at the prospect. Danny wouldn't be surprised if the man had been eager to explore the Zone even before now. "Plus, isn't this why we built the Portal in the first place? To explore the world of the ghosts, and the ones that live there?"

Maddie hummed, thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Both of you." She shook her head, then folded her hands together, looking much more determined. "We'll check the Specter Speeder over once more just to be sure, and then we'll grab some supplies. Phantom, do you need to warn your allies beforehand?"

"Nah." He flapped a hand in her direction. "Frostbite knows I'm coming, plus he and his people are open to me visiting whenever."

"Those were the guys that worship you, right? Does Frostbite do so as well?" Jack had lumbered over to the Specter Speeder, opening the machine to look at the internal mechanisms. Sometimes Danny admired his parents' ability to multitask – it seemed pretty useful.

"Kinda, yeah." Danny shrugged, floating over to peek into the Specter Speeder. None of the machinery made sense to him, however, so he wasn't sure if he could offer to help. "He's gotten a lot easier about it, thankfully. Still insists on calling me 'Great One', though."

Maddie sidled up next to Jack, also eyeing up the Specter Speeder's… engine, maybe? "And that was because you defeated Pariah Dark, right? Does that affect your relationship with him in any way, you think?"

"Maybe at first, but that wore off quick, I think." Danny swung himself upside down to attempt to decipher the complicated mess of electronics and machinery. "Working on my ice powers with him made him see me more like, well, _me_. My status just made sure I had a good enough first impression to get that far, I guess."

She nodded. Then both of the adults stepped back, closing the panel on the Specter Speeder. "Well, looks like it should be fine. I'll grab some supplies from the Vault. Jack, Phantom, can you collect the things here in the lab?"

"Of course honey," Jack said, and Danny stuck up his thumb in her direction. Maddie nodded, seemingly pleased, and left for the Vault.

Once she was gone, Danny turned to his dad. "So, uh. I'm guessing you know what we need to take along to the Zone?"

Jack blinked. Then again. "Oh. _Oh_, right. Sorry, Phantom. I guess you've become such a normal sight around here that I forgot how recent that change was."

"It's fine." Danny shrugged, then looped around so he hung in front of his dad. "So… supplies?"

He nodded. "Most of it is in the Vault, so we'll just need some of the basic stuff. Fenton Phones, medical supplies, snacks…"

"I've got a pair of Fenton Phones myself, so we just need two more pairs for you two." Danny let his eyes wander through the lab, but the gadgets were too small to pick out in the mess. "If you can point me in the right direction I can get those, and you can focus on the food."

"Good man," Jack complimented with a grin. He gestured to a large table close to the Portal – loaded with half-finished inventions, of course. "They should be on that table, since that's where we store everything we're not actively working on. Well, besides the stuff in the Vault, of course. Are you sure you'll be fine? Most of it is anti-ghost, you know?"

"I'll be fine." Danny shot his dad a comforting smile. It wasn't like this would be much more dangerous than cleaning the lab, and he did _that_ on regular basis. Not as often as his parents would've liked, but still. "If I can handle it while it's being wielded by ghost hunters, I'm sure I can deal with the inactive ones lying on a table."

His dad barked out a surprised laugh, then nodded. "Alright, fair enough. I'll go grab the food then. If you run into trouble, shout."

"I will," Danny assured him, floating over to the table in question.

Thankfully, the Fenton Phones ended up being easy to find. While carefully pushing aside a deactivated Ghost Catcher (you could never be too careful with those) Danny accidentally knocked over a stack of other inventions. And underneath those were the Fenton Phones! And none of the inventions had really fallen, either – Danny had managed to catch them all using his telekinesis.

After somewhat carefully putting everything else back into place, Danny floated back to the Specter Speeder. The four Fenton Phones – two pairs of them – were held carefully in his hand. With his other, he unzipped the pocket he carried his own pair in, not that he'd ever used them.

When he took them, he had hoped to maybe link them to Valerie's suit. If they ever made a permanent alliance, it would be good to be able to communicate on the field. Or if another invasion happened, of course.

This, however. This was better, actually.

His parents might be a strange choice for allies, but _dang_ if they didn't make good ones.

"Did you find them alright?" Jack asked when he wandered back over. His arms were loaded full of snacks – mostly unhealthy foods, of course. It was a good thing that they didn't plan on staying long – worst came to worst, Danny could ask Frostbite for human-safe food.

Danny opened his hand to show his dad the earpieces. The shiny metal shone against his white glove, the ecto-green accents matching his eyes. It was a funny coincidence, he thought, that the accident turned his eyes the exact color of ectoplasm.

"Good, good." Jack stepped forward to open the Specter Speeder's door, but seemed to be struggling. Danny floated past him and reached to open it instead. "Oh, thanks, kid."

"No prob." Danny floated in after his dad, glancing around the cabin. He'd been in the Speeder before, of course – his dad had accidentally pushed him in when he first met Walker. It was how he knew that the Speeder worked and would be safe in the first place – it wasn't like he had ever brought anyone else to Zone before, after all. "What else do we need? Medical supplies, right?"

Jack nodded, opening a kit that was mounted to the wall. "Yeah, but this one is stocked well enough. We should be fine with just this."

"And if anything happens, Frostbite has medical facilities as well." And a good thing too. Danny didn't like to think about what could've happened if he had truly overloaded his ghost form with his newly emerging ice powers, back during Undergrowth's invasion.

"Really?" His dad looked intrigued, eyes bright and wide. "I suppose it makes sense – we've seen that _you_ can get injured beyond what your enhanced healing can take care of. I just figured that it was because you were more human in structure." Then he refocused, growing a little more serious. "Still, though, just because they have medics of their own doesn't mean we can sit back. Ghost medicine won't work on humans, most likely."

"Nah, any ghost can get injured if you try hard enough." Danny shrugged. "That aside, if my anatomy is so similar to that of a human, why _wouldn't_ Frostbite's people know how to treat the living as well?"

"I suppose you have a point," Jack acknowledged with a tilt of his head. "And they might've preserved information from when they were among the living as well, I guess. Or otherwise had an interest and studied it."

An interest which _definitely_ didn't come from the fact that their great savior was half human, no sirree!

Before he could say anything, however, his mom appeared in the door of the Specter Speeder.

"There you two are," she said, looking over the pile of food with a mild grimace. "Did you get everything?"

"Yeah we did!" Jack grinned, clearly not noticing Maddie's less-than-stellar opinion of his food choices. "You got everything from the Vault as well, Mads?"

She nodded, handing him several ecto-guns, complete with holsters. Then she turned to Danny and, to his surprise, handed him another Thermos.

Seeing his surprise, she explained. "I'm not sure how well it'll work in the Ghost Zone, but I felt uncomfortable not bringing any weaponry for you as well."

"Oh, well, um. Thanks." Danny clipped it to his belt, in the spot where he normally carried his replacement Thermos. He had, admittedly, left it behind for this trip – he didn't like to use the Thermos in the Zone because that's where he dumped the ghosts anyway.

"We're all ready to go, then?" Jack asked, glancing between Danny and Maddie. "We have everything we need?"

"Well, we definitely have everything _we_ need. Phantom?" His mom looked over to him as well.

Danny smirked. "Well, I kinda don't need anything to go into the Ghost Zone? So yeah, I'm good as well."

She blinked, once, and then nodded with sudden understanding. "Oh, right. Yes, of course. Lead the way, Phantom."

"First, these." He floated closer, handing both of his parents the Fenton Phones. "I don't know how much sound the walls of the Speeder block, and I don't want to have to phase through to talk."

They took the earphones and put them in, while Danny did the same. "You raise a good point, kid," Jack said once they all lowered their hands again. "Wouldn't want to have to travel in silence the whole way. Unless it's not far from our Portal?"

"Eh." Danny wiggled his hand. "Distance in the Zone is weird. Obviously I'm not a good judge since I don't know how quickly I fly at any given moment, but I _know_ that some places I can fly to within minutes and other times they're like an hours flight away."

He flew through the still-open door and closed it behind him. Hovering between the Speeder and the Portal itself, he continued speaking. "That having been said, the Far Frozen is very true to both parts of its name. You don't have to worry about the cold much, since we can meet Frostbite inside where it's warmer, but, well. It's still pretty far."

"Well, at least we'll have plenty of time to enjoy the scenery?" Jack suggested, voice a mingling of excitement and uncertainty. "Hang on, Phantom, we'll open the Portal doors from inside the Speeder."

Danny nodded, hovering in front of the enormous yellow-and-black doors. Moments later they groaned open, thick metal sliding into the arch around it.

He remembered being afraid of the Portal, at first. The accident had changed him, he'd been hurt and alone and _terrified_. And it was all the fault of the Portal. His own too, of course, for messing with the machine in the first place. But most of all it was the Portal's.

It had taken him forever to get over it, really. Every time he had gone in the lab, it just _lurked_ there. It was so big, and his parents refused to distance themselves from it, so Danny kept having to come close. And then one day his dad accidentally pushed him through it-

The Ghost Zone was enormous and green and simultaneously everything Danny had been expecting and _nothing_ like it. And knowing what laid behind the frame, that entering the Zone was nothing like his accident, that helped. Approaching the Portal was still scary, at first, but it got easier over time.

Visiting the Zone with friends, or to visit friends, that helped too. Promising to meet Sidney and sight-see. Going to help other ghosts in the Zone. That kinda thing.

Flying through the Portal felt refreshing. Its surface was cool to the touch, barely tangible regardless of form and tangibility. But the Ghost Zone behind it, and its enormous amount of free-floating ectoplasm, was like a pick-me-up for his ghost form. A booster shot of energy.

The Specter Speeder glid through the Portal as well, closely behind Danny. For a moment he stopped to watch it, in awe of his parents' skill at engineering despite himself. Seeing it from the outside was _way_ different than the one time he had rode it.

"Phantom, are we okay to go?" his mom asked him via the Fenton Phones, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." He cleared his throat and looked away, hiding the blush that crept onto his face. "I'll, uh, start flying in the right direction."

He angled himself in the right direction, merged his legs into a spectral tail, and flew off. He tempered his speed at first, unsure of how fast the Speeder could go. That, and he could keep a closer eye on his environment at lower speeds. Danny knew he could fly to the Far Frozen blind – it was the other ghosts he was worried about.

They flew on in silence for a while. Danny raised his speed, little by little, until the Speeder could no longer match it. His parents, he assumed, were busy watching the Zone. It _was_ their first time visiting it, at least. And, as far as they knew, it was the first time a living human had visited the Ghost Zone.

Danny wouldn't tell them that Valerie been here. Multiple times, even. It would only ruin their fun.

"Say, Phantom, don't you ever get cold?" Jack asked out of the blue after more than 30 minutes of silence. Danny, startled, jerked off course and only barely dodged a floating rock.

"What?" he replied as he tried to calm down from his start. "No, I mean, not really. Why?"

"Well," a scuffing sound, like Jack was scraping his foot over the floor of the Speeder, "You mentioned how cold the Far Frozen was earlier. And while most ghosts seem immune to temperatures, we know that you're warmer than most."

"Oh." Well, he supposed his dad had a point. "Um, not really? Sometimes in the past it could get a little nippy if it was very cold, but now that I have ice powers I'm basically immune to extreme temperatures." Danny shrugged, looking over his shoulder at the Speeder. "Plus my suit does a pretty adequate job of keeping me warm."

"It _is_ a pretty neat suit." Danny could see his dad shift inside the cabin of the Speeder. "You're a man of taste, Phantom, wearing jumpsuits just like we do!"

"I mean, um." Danny glanced away, blush crawling onto his cheeks again. "I, uh. I didn't make the conscious decision to wear it, per se."

"Oh?" It was his mom, now. "Don't all ghosts pick their clothing on their own? How else did you come to wear a jumpsuit?"

"Well, you see." Danny floated closer to the Speeder, still leading it in the right direction. "I kind of, um. Died wearing it?"

A moment of silence. A _long_ moment of silence. Then–

"_Oh_." Jack cleared his throat. "I see. That's um. Unfortunate."

Danny shrugged. "Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of it at first either. I, uh. Used to say I wouldn't be caught dead wearing them."

"_Phantom_," his mom chastised, her tone tired. "Are you really making jokes about your death?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" He locked eyes with her through the window, offering a shrug. "Mope about it? It's not like it'll get better. Might as well live with it, for as far as you can call it 'living', you know? 's better than being sad about it."

She sighed, weary. "Yes, I suppose you're right. It's just…"

"Death is a difficult topic," Danny finished for her. "I know. Believe me, I _do_. But you can't get hung up on it forever, you know? It's a thing that happens for everyone, eventually."

"But you're just a _kid_," Jack said, voice also heavy with sadness. "You're our son's age, Phantom, and you died wearing a hazmat suit. I know you don't like talking about your death, but…"

"It wasn't natural, no." Danny phased through the windscreen of the Speeder, startling both of his parents. "Sorry, this was easier for the conversation. Just, uh, keep heading in the direction we were going."

His parents shared a glance. A few quick ones, actually, making Danny think it was an entire silent conversation. Then, finally, his mom spoke up again.

"But you still didn't tell anybody?"

He huffed out a breath. "No. It was nobody's fault but my own, and no one else was hurt. No more than they'll be if they know the entire truth, anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Jack's voice was quieter than usual, but in the silence of the cabin it still carried. "But we can't force you to do anything, Phantom. Just… think about it? About telling your parents?"

"Yeah." He smiled, humorlessly. "I think about it pretty often, to be honest. It's just…" He combed his fingers through his hair, pushing his bangs out of his face. "It would hurt them more than help them. At least for now. Maybe… Maybe later. When things are better."

"But what if things never get better?" His mom's hand wrapped around his upper arm, warm and comforting. "What _is_ better, anyway? What amount of improvement would be enough?"

"I don't– I don't know," Danny admitted, shoulders slumping down. "I can't tell them, though. Not yet."

"As long as you really _do_ plan on telling them, kid." Jack's massive hand wrapped around his shoulders, pulling Danny against his side. "Your parents deserve to know the truth."

"I know," Danny said before his dad had really stopped talking. The man smiled, but continued anyway.

"They deserve to know how wonderful their son really is. How much good he does, even now."

Danny nodded, ducking his head to hide the smile that had crept onto his face. "I… I'll think about it, okay? But, um." He looked up, out of the window, straight at a giant rock in front of the Specter Speeder.

"_Shit_," he swore, automatically lifting higher in the air even though there was nothing he could do anymore. They were going too fast, couldn't dodge or turn intangible–

The Speeder careened through the rock like it didn't even exist. Danny barely missed it, but his dad went straight through it.

In front of them empty green sky hung. Danny looked back to see the last of the rock phase through the Specter Speeder, stunned. His dad, next to him, look at his hands with wide-eyed amazement.

"Phantom, no swearing," his mom scolded belatedly, like she had only just realized what he'd said. Then, "What on _Earth_ was that?"

"Well, not Earth," Danny said before he could really think about it. "I think… that humans can turn themselves intangible in the Ghost Zone, to ectoplasm-based materials at least. But I'm not sure how the Speeder did it, here."

"Do you think we could've turned it intangible?" Jack offered, brow creased in thought. "Like how you could turn us intangible in the human world?"

"Maybe." Danny glanced out the window to make sure they weren't about to hit anything else. "But you should hold off on testing that theory until we get to the Far Frozen, at least, just in case it doesn't work."

Jack barked out a laugh. "Yeah, probably."

"Maybe it would be for the best if you went ahead again, Phantom." Maddie's hands were still clawed around the controls. Danny was sure that her hands were white-knuckled beneath her gloves. "Just to avoid a repeat performance."

Danny nodded, phasing through the front of the Speeder. "At least we can still keep up the conversation. Your Fenton Phones work really well."

"We should test them more while we're here," Jack suggested. "Maybe the tech behind them could be used for those phones the other ghosts were talking about a while back."

Caught off-guard, Danny glanced over his shoulder back at his dad. "Huh?"

"Well, our Fenton Phones work in the Zone, right?" his dad started explaining. "So if they work over longer distances, or even while one is here and the other is in our world, then that technology could be used to help with that phone network the biker ghosts were talking about before, yeah?"

"I– Yeah. Yeah, you're right." If they really _did_ work, then Danny might even be able to improve his relationship with Technus a little. Helping with this would be a sure-fire way of winning the ghost's favor – or at least keeping him out of Amity for a little longer. "If you're okay with me sharing the tech like that, that would be really helpful, yeah."

"Wouldn't offer if it wasn't okay," Jack said, an amused tone to his voice. "Seriously, Phantom, we really _do_ want to help in whatever way possible."

"I know, I know. I'm just…" Danny twitched his spectral tail, uncertain. "Just not used to it, I guess. Even my allies who want to help just _can't_. There's not much they can do for me, besides offer me their company."

He looked ahead, spotting the enormous mountains of the Far Frozen. "And speaking of which, we're nearly there. You probably can't see it yet, but soon you should be able to see the tunnel we'll use to enter."

"Why a tunnel?" his mom asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "Isn't it an island like everything else seems to be?"

"Well, most lairs are actually sub-dimensions that you can only access via doors." Danny slowed a little as they approached the tunnel, which should now be visible to his parents as well. "But yeah, the Far Frozen is an island as well. The correct way to approach is via the tunnel – it's so they can protect their realm more easily."

"Like a bottleneck in case they're attacked?" The Speeder slowed down as well, Maddie clearly eyeing up the tunnel. "That might be a narrow fit, Phantom."

"We might have to try the intangibility thing." He stopped to float over the opening, glancing between it and the Speeder. "Worst come to worst we can leave it here and I'll carry you to the palace. Frostbite can set guards on it to make sure no ghost messes with it."

The Specter Speeder lowered closer to the tunnel entrance. Danny could see his parents sitting behind the window, worried expressions on their faces. Maddie, especially, had a crease in her brow that suggested extreme focus.

"I'll go just ahead," Danny offered, dipping into the tunnel. "To make sure the guards won't worry."

"Copy that, Phantom," his dad replied, seeing that Maddie wouldn't. "We'll follow at our own pace."

The crawl through the tunnels was slow, but steady. As it turned out, they'd gotten lucky; the tunnel was just big enough to fit the Specter Speeder.

One of the guards stationed at the end of the tunnel glanced between Danny and the Speeder, warily. He waved a greeting at her, however, offering an understanding smile. "It's fine, Frostbite knew they were coming."

"Great One," she replied with a short bow. "Very well, although I wish he had informed us as well."

"We didn't exactly pick a specific moment." He shrugged, still smiling somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry. I'll try to give more of a warning next time."

"It's much appreciated." She stepped aside, nodding towards the Fentons in the Specter Speeder. "Carry on, you three. Enjoy your stay in the Far Frozen."

"Thanks." Danny waved at her before flying off. He moderated his speed even though most ghosts in the Far Frozen didn't fly – it just seemed more polite. Knowing that his parents were probably still listening, he said, "I'll bring us right to the front steps of Frostbite's palace. The Speeder will be fine there, unless it can't handle the cold for extended periods of time?" Hmm, he should've considered that possibility before. There was probably a better place to park it if that was the case.

"It should be fine with the cold," his dad assured him before he could worry too much. "But will it be fine parked out in the open like that?"

"None of the ghosts will mess with it, if that's what you're worried about." Danny slowed as he approached the palace, coming to a stop in front of the massive sprawling structure – made entirely out of ice, of course. "You're with me, and I'm the 'Great One', remember? So they'll leave it alone."

"If you're sure." His dad more or less mumbled the reply, clearly worried about the machine. For all that he tried to change, the man clearly still struggled to trust ghosts, especially ones he didn't know. That, and he was just very protective of things he considered his own.

Danny would've been annoyed, except that his dad clearly trusted _him,_ trusted his judgment enough to leave it be.

The Specter Speeder came to a halt as well, lowering until it gently landed in the snow. It then promptly sunk another 3 inches before actually settling down.

Danny was already floating over to the door when it opened, his mom standing in the opening. "It certainly does honor to its name." She looked around, at the town made entirely out of ice and the ghosts that were peeking outside, just as curious of them as they were of the ghosts. "And it's so different from the rest of the Zone."

"Everything else was just green and purple, but this place is almost entirely white and blue." His dad was looking around as well, wide-eyed but grinning. "It's _incredible_."

"I thank you very much." Both Fentons whirled around, startled, at the unexpected voice. Danny just grinned at the yeti who had just exited the palace.

"Frostbite! These are Jack and Maddie Fenton, the ghost hunters I told you I would bring by." He turned to face his parents again. "Jack, Maddie, this is Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Maddie stepped forward first, uncertainly offering her hand. She was clearly eyeing up Frostbite – and Danny couldn't blame them. He cut an imposing figure, large and muscular with an enormous amount of fur that made him look even bigger. The icy horns on his head and toothy muzzle didn't help. Neither did the false left arm, composed only of bone with ice surrounding it.

Frostbite took her hand – with his right hand, thankfully – and shook it. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Huntress. And you too, Hunter," he added as he shook Jack's hand as well. "The Great One has spoken well of your skills, even before your current alliance."

"Frost_bite_," Danny whined, leaning on the ghost's shoulder. "Can't you just call me by my name for once?"

"No, I cannot." He grinned, frustratingly, knowing _exactly_ how much Danny disliked the title. Then he turned back to the Fentons. "Come, let us go inside. I'm sure you two are cold out here."

"Yeah, kinda." Jack eagerly followed the ghost, and Maddie trailed behind them. Danny matched her pace, floating alongside.

"You okay?" he asked, a little worried. Jack had enough flesh to weather the cold a little while. His mom, however, had far less protection. And Danny didn't know how well the jumpsuit would protect her – how cold it really was in the Far Frozen.

"I'm fine Phantom, no worries." She smiled at him, then turned to look at the palace they were entering. "It's just a little… overwhelming. No, not overwhelming. Humbling is a better word."

"How so?" He flipped onto his side so he could watch her more easily.

"All this time, we've insisted that ghosts were dumb, unintelligent, inhuman." She looked away, shoulders tense. "That they were incapable of the depth that humans have. Yet the proof was _right here_, all this time. If we had just gone through the Portal, we could've seen how _wrong_ we were. But we had to wait until you almost died at our feet before we noticed."

"Well, everyone makes mistakes." Danny shrugged when she looked back at him, slightly incredulous. "It's part of being… uh. I was gonna say human but that doesn't entirely work. Existing? It's part of existing. You make mistakes, you learn from them, and then you do better."

He threw out a hand, demonstratively. "And that's this. You're here, both of you, following a ghost to meet another ghost you had never even heard of."

She huffed out a short breath. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But I can't help but think…"

"Don't," he insisted, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Mo– _Maddie_, there's no changing the past. Thinking about how things _could_ have gone won't make things better. Focus on the here and the now, and stop worrying, alright?"

"Yeah, alright." She smiled at him, still a little shaky but clearly real. "Thanks, Phantom. I think I needed to hear that."

"It's no problem." He looked forward to where the huge shapes of Frostbite and his dad had stopped. "Come on, I think they're waiting for us."

She nodded, and they both sped up to meet up with the other two again.

* * *

They didn't end up staying all that long, in the end. The flight had taken longer than they had really expected (apparently Danny really _did_ fly significantly faster than the Speeder) and his parents were unsure about staying too long in the Ghost Zone. After all, little was known about the Ghost Zone or its effects on humans.

Danny had tried to reassure them, that it would do no harm, but their minds had been made. They had thanked Frostbite for his hospitality – and for teaching them more about ghosts – and left.

But despite the shorter-than-expected stay, the visit had gone well. Despite Frostbite's uncertainty beforehand, when Danny had suggested the visit, he showed no fear towards the Fentons. Not that Danny had expected him to – Frostbite was a leader, and could very easily put on a brave face. Even if he _was_ worried that he would accidentally spill the Great One's secret.

He _had_ been cajoled into teaching the Fentons more about ghostly anatomy, however. When he had mentioned their medical facilities the Fentons had shown clear interest and asked more. And while Frostbite had been initially unsure, they told him that they mostly wanted to know so they could help 'the Great One' if he got hurt, and, well… That was all they needed to say, apparently.

Still, Danny couldn't really be mad. His parents _did_ intend to use it to help him. He didn't hope it would be necessary, but even so. The gesture was very nice.

The three of them agreed that he would return another time for the next visit to the Ghost Zone. After all, he had promised to introduce them to Queen Dorathea as well, and they hadn't gotten around to that quite yet.

* * *

The Specter Speeder hovered just above the floor of the lab. Its metal walls shone under the bright artificial light, its green lights blinking energetically. The door hung open, Maddie standing in its opening to peer inside the vehicle.

"I think we have everything," she said, not turning around to face Danny and Jack. "Phantom, the Kingdom wasn't as uninhabitable as the Far Frozen, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Less unified and still kind of medieval, but it's not freezing cold or anything, at least."

"Good, good." She turned around. "In that case we should be…" she trailed off, clearly hearing the same footsteps as Danny.

Jazz walked into the lab, starting when she locked eyes with Danny. "Oh, Phantom! Sorry, I didn't know you were here."

"We were just leaving," Danny said with a shrug, looking over at the Speeder. Jazz followed his gaze with a slight frown.

"With the Specter Speeder?" She turned to their parents. "I thought you guys only wanted to use that in the Ghost Zone?"

"Which is where we're going!" Jack grinned, bright and wide. "Earlier this week Phantom took us to meet one of his allies in the Zone, and today we're meeting another one! Dora, right?"

"Queen Dorathea of Aragon, yeah." Danny ran a hand through his hair. "She doesn't stand on titles much, but not using it when you're first meeting her might annoy her. And uh, I can recommend avoiding that."

"How so?" Jazz asked, looking intrigued. "And is she really a queen, or is that just a general title?"

"Well, Dora has this necklace which turns her into a dragon when she gets angry," Danny started explaining, smiling slightly at the incredulous expressions of his family. "A really big fire-breathing dragon, yeah. Her brother had one as well, so that's why she didn't use it to overthrow him. But the Red Huntress and I convinced her that she was a better ruler and didn't have to live in Aragon's shadow, and she fought him. In the end, Red and I barely had to do anything – Dora was strong enough to deal with Aragon herself."

"So this Dora… What's the story between her and her brother, exactly?" Jazz looked surprising thoughtful. _Oh_, duh, of course. She had spotted another target to psycho-analyze, probably.

Which, actually… might be kind of good for Dora. At the very least she could meet another girl without having to worry about the whole rank thing getting in the way.

"Well, her brother used to be the king of their kingdom. Only he wasn't a very good ruler – he insisted that things stay the way they had always been, was opposed to all change and such. He forcibly kept the entire kingdom in the Middle Ages, with all the things that came with it. Bad living situations, inequality for the women, and all that. Dora, especially, was more his servant than his sister. She had to listen to his every command, wasn't allowed to stand for herself or do things she enjoyed. She wasn't even allowed to have an opinion of her own."

He shifted, pausing for a moment to let the story sink in. "It lasted for several centuries. Then Aragon decided that to really be a king, he needed a queen. But he didn't just want any queen, he wanted the _best_ queen. He wanted one no other ghost had – a _living_ queen. So he instructed Dora to kidnap one from the human realm, with the specific instruction that it had to be one that _I_ seemed to favor, since I was a strong powerful ghost and all that."

Danny shrugged, scratching his cheek for a moment. "Of course, I don't spend a whole lot of time around human girls, so. She ended up grabbing the Red Huntress. By the time I heard what had happened and made my way over, Red had already almost convinced Dora to stand up for herself. I helped convince her as well, and then Dora overthrew her brother, took his dragon-necklace, and locked him up in prison. She's been ruling the Kingdom ever since."

Jazz nodded, a determined expression settling on her face. "Sounds like she could use someone to talk to. Mind if I join you three?"

"Fine with me." He looked at Maddie and Jack. "But she's your kid, so it's your call."

The two of them shared a few glances. They were clearly caught between enthusiasm that their kid was showing an interest in ghosts, and worrying that the Ghost Zone wouldn't be safe for her. Finally Maddie nodded, first at him and then at Jazz.

"You said that it'll be safe, Phantom, and I trust you. Yes, Jazz, you can come along if you want."

Grinning, Jazz strode towards the Speeder. Then she paused. Turned around. "So, uh. Do I need to bring anything to stay safe, or…?"

Danny snorted, accidentally drawing everyone's attention back to him. He flapped a dismissive hand towards Jazz. "No, no, the Zone is perfectly safe. Your parents spent several hours in the Far Frozen earlier this week and the only thing that threatened them was the cold. Dora's castle, unlike Frostbite's, isn't made out of ice, so you'll be fine."

"Take these though," Maddie said, handing Jazz two Fenton Phones. Where she got them from, Danny didn't know. But then, to be fair, his mom had a _lot_ of stuff in her belt. "We're all wearing them so we can talk more easily. Phantom will fly outside the Speeder to guide us, and this way we won't have to shout."

"And we won't hit a rock because we were too busy talking to watch the road," Danny joked, grinning. "Go and hop on before Dora gets impatient."

"Actually, Phantom, why don't you go ahead?" Jack stopped in the door of the Speeder to look at him. "We forgot to test the inter-dimensional range of the Fenton Phones last time, but we can try them now."

"Oh, that's actually… a pretty good idea." Danny floated over to the Portal, then turned back to his family. "Can you, uh, open the Portal doors, then?"

"Right, right." His dad ducked into the Speeder, and with a groan the Portal doors slid open. "We'll be right behind you even if the Phones don't work, okay kid?"

Danny nodded, then realized none of them could see him. "Uh, yeah, alright. See you guys in a minute."

He dove through the Portal, replacing the artificial white of the lab for strangely-comforting green. Turning around to face the open Portal, he hesitantly spoke up. "So, uh. Are you guys hearing this?"

"Loud and clear," his dad's voice replied. The sound carried just as well as it had before, when they had all been in the Ghost Zone. "Try flying a little further from the Portal."

Doing as asked, Danny flew about a hundred feet away and landed on a rock. "How about now?"

"Still good," his mom confirmed, her voice ringing clear as well. "We'll come through now. How far did you go?"

Seeing the Specter Speeder enter the Zone, Danny lifted up from the rock to catch their eye. "A hundred feet or so. We're heading this way, anyway."

The Speeder made its way over to where Danny floated, although he sped away before they reached him. "It's not as far as the Far Frozen, but still 30 minutes flying or so, I think. Like I said last time, distances are weird in the Zone."

"You're also just bad at judging them," Maddie said, her tone light and joking. "Since you base everything off of how fast you fly, despite not knowing how fast that is."

Danny gasped, offended, and clasped a hand to his chest. "How dare you! I, the Great One, Sir Phantom, am obviously the _best_ at everything I ever do."

Jazz snorted, and both of his parents chuckled.

"That's a lot of titles, kid," his dad commented in-between chuckles.

"Yeah, I keep getting them for some reason." Danny looked in front of him to make sure he didn't hit any floating rocks. "Maybe it's because I keep befriending powerful ghosts in leadership roles."

"You think?" Jazz asked with that perfect 'sarcastic sister' voice he was so familiar with.

He hummed, pretending to think about it. "Nah, probably not. Must be something else."

After that the conversation more or less petered off. When Danny glanced over his shoulder he could see Jazz peering into the depths of the Ghost Zone, apparently captivated by her first visit. His parents, admittedly, weren't much better.

But then again, neither had he. Maybe he shouldn't have blamed his interest in the Zone on being part ghost. Maybe it was just part of being a Fenton. Who would've thought?

Eventually they reached the Kingdom of Aragon. Dora's castle had been visible for a while, the rest of the island more mundane.

"So the good news is that we can just fly to the island this time," he said, breaking the silence.

"What's the bad news?" his mom asked, wary.

"There is no bad news." Danny turned around mid-air to shoot her a grin. "We can just fly straight to the castle since I'm with you guys."

"You're a dork," Jazz muttered under her breath. Through the window Danny could see her clamp her hands over her mouth as she realized he could hear her through the Fenton Phones.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He spun back around, slowly guiding the Specter Speeder to a safe place to land. "My jokes are the best kind of dorky, after all."

"Don't let the jocks hear you, they would be heartbroken."

He looked over his shoulder to see both of his parents focusing on landing the Speeder. "Maybe that would finally get Paulina to stop obsessing over me."

"Oh god, yeah, maybe." She hummed. "That girl has a problem, and I say that as a professional."

"Jazz, sweetie, you're not actually a professional yet," their mom commented as the Speeder touched down.

"You don't have to be to know that Paulina's crush on Phantom is unhealthy." She stood up from her seat, stretching her arms over her head. "Man, these seats aren't great for longer travels."

"No, we definitely didn't anticipate the Ghost Zone being this big." Maddie opened the door to let Jack step out first, clearing room in the cabin for her and Jazz to move around more easily. "But I suppose that that was a silly mistake."

"Kinda, yeah." Danny flew over to the Speeder, hovering by the open door. "A lot of the ghosts call it the Infinite Realms, even. It's just as never-ending as regular space, or so they say."

Jack whistled, impressed.

Maddie and Jazz clambered out of the Speeder, joining him outside. Maddie had joined Jack in looking around wildly, but Jazz had focused her attention on the castle itself.

"We should go inside," Danny suggested, seeing that none of them seemed inclined to move. "Unlike Frostbite, Dora probably won't come looking for us."

The three of them nodded, looking at him to lead the way. And with an internal shrug, Danny did.

A couple of guards stood by the castle, but they nodded at him in greeting and said nothing. His family remained silent, simply following him over the bridge and into the castle.

"Not as chatty as those yetis in the Far Frozen, huh?" Jack asked once they were inside.

"Not really, no." Danny shrugged. "The Far Frozen are a very sociable people, and they've been led by Frostbite who encourages that kinda stuff. The people of Aragon are still recovering from their old ruler, so they're stuck in their old ways still."

They walked into the throne room, an enormous empty hall with a single raised throne set at the far wall. Sitting on it was Dora, who (literally) brightened up when she saw him. "Sir Phantom! How nice to see you again!"

She raised out of the chair, floating closer to them. Danny gave her a short bow, which his family quickly copied. "Queen Dora, it's nice to see you as well. These are Jack, Maddie, and Jazz Fenton; the parents are the ghost hunters I mentioned, and Jazz is their daughter who asked to come along. I hope that that was okay?"

Dora smiled, her aura still steadily increasing in brightness – a clear sign of happiness. "Yes of course it is! And a pleasure to meet you three as well. Come, come, we can sit down in another room."

The group followed Dora to another room, the parents right behind her and Jazz trailing a little further behind. Danny floated up next to her, giving her a short nudge. "Dora is pretty shy with initiating contact," he told her with a conspiring tone. "Try introducing yourself more directly, and then I'll offer to show your parents around the Kingdom so you two can talk in private."

She glanced over at him. "Would that work? You know her better than I do, Phantom."

"Definitely. Just, uh. If her eyes change color and her pupils narrow, try to calm her down." He looked over at Dora, who was steadfastly looking straight-forward despite her obvious interest in her guests. "That's a clear sign that she's edging on a transformation."

"Gotcha," Jazz said with a nod. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"I know you will." He looked back at her with a smile. "You're good at this stuff, Jazz. That's why I'm trusting you with this. I know it'll be good for Dora."

They entered the next room before Jazz could answer, Dora swirling around. "And here we are. Please, everyone, take a seat."

Jazz looked over at him, and he gave her a short encouraging nod. Then she turned back to Dora, straightened her shoulders, and said, "Actually, um, Your Highness. I was wondering if we could… sit down and talk. Just the two of us, I mean."

Dora frowned, looking between Jazz and Danny. Then she glanced over to the adult Fentons, uncertainly. "Ah, well…"

"I can take Maddie and Jack outside," Danny offered with a smile. "I'll show them around, since they haven't seen much ghost society yet. It'll be interesting, _right guys_?"

Maddie clearly caught on to the emphasized words. "Oh, certainly. That would be very nice actually, right Jack?" She jabbed him with her elbow.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah." He nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that would be really interesting."

The ghost still frowned, glancing between her various guests. Then she slumped in a little, nodding towards Danny. "Very well then. Sir Phantom, please show our guests around. Miss… Jazz? Come and have a seat."

Danny started leading his parents away, but paused to shoot Jazz an encouraging smile. She smiled back, grasping her confidence again now that she entered more familiar territory.

Yes, this would definitely be good for both of them. Danny would definitely have to look into those phones – connecting Dora and Jazz in a more manageable way would be good for them. Maybe he could even get Sidney mixed in. The three of them all desperately needed friends.

* * *

I wanted to write more between Frostbite and Danny's parents but I ALSO wanted the thing with Jazz meeting Dora so sacrifices had to be made, y'know? It was already so long and I've only got so much time in a week (and patience for a chapter, because OOF this took a while). This is also (part of) why I didn't actually write the conversation between Dora and Jazz. Just imagine them getting along well and Jazz helping Dora overcome her centuries of abuse, yea?

Also! Not very related, but I recently hit 50k on Weirdward (the HPxDP crossover I've been working on since I finished writing Disinterred) so I posted a teaser snippet on my Tumblr! I, uh, don't think this site accepts links so, hmm. Go to my tumblr (darks-ink) and then check out /tagged/weirdward for the actual post (and also everything else I've posted about it)


	8. Chapter 8

The Ghost Zone was dreary as always. Thick green ectoplasm coiled and misted, forming nebulous clouds that Danny easily passed through. His destination was a lair he'd never visited; he only knew where it was by chance. He'd seen the ghost exit it once before, while he had been fighting Skulker, and evidence suggested that it really _was_ that ghosts lair.

And if not… well, it wouldn't be the first time that he'd made a fool out of himself.

The door, exceedingly simple for the ghost it supposedly belonged to, appeared in front of Danny. He paused for a moment, hesitant. Then he braced himself. It _had_ to happen. Jazz had really hit it off with Dora, but he couldn't have her go into the Zone so often to visit her. And Sidney, too, would likely get along well with the two of them. The phones needed to be made, needed to work.

He knocked.

The door opened, a green-skinned ghost with a white mullet appearing in the opening.

"Ghost-Child?" Technus asked, frowning behind his glasses. "What are _you_ doing here? How did you even find me?"

"I saw you leave here once, while fighting Skulker." He shrugged, fidgeting with the edge of his glove. "I, um. Heard that you were working on getting phones working here? And I wanted to help, if I could."

Technus eyed him, probably trying to determine his genuineness. Then he floated aside, gesturing for Danny to enter. "Very well! But, Ghost-Child, do you know anything about tech besides how to destroy it?"

"Eh, not really." Danny grimaced. No, unless fixing the Ghost Portal per accident counted, he didn't have much experience with it. "But I have some earphones my parents invented. When we tested them recently they worked across dimensions, so I thought they might be useful to you."

Then Danny shrugged. "Plus I might be able to get you material by buying it or taking it from my parents, so you don't have to come and steal it."

The full ghost barked out a laugh. "Very well! I will gladly take a look at this tech of yours."

Nodding, Danny dug out the extra pair of Fenton Phones from his pockets. He had originally taken an extra pair to give to Valerie, but after their recent confrontation she hadn't exactly warmed up to him. Since no further truces had formed, he might as well sacrifice them for this.

Technus took them from his hand, turning them this way and that. "And they worked across dimensions? These don't look like anything special."

"Uh, yeah. We tested them, my parents on one side and me on the other, and they worked just as well as when we were all in the Zone. And that was with three of them in the Human World and me in the Zone."

Nodding, Technus floated over to the closest desk. "Well, let's see how your parents managed it, then. And I assume you'll want access to the tech too, in return for helping?"

"I mean, ideally I would offer this tech in return for you no longer attacking Amity, but I don't think that that's gonna happen." Danny floated closer as well, keeping an eye on Technus as he disassembled one of the earpieces. "So yeah, I'll settle for some of the tech so I can stay in touch with the Zone-bound ghosts."

"What, your human family and friends not good enough for you?" Technus didn't look up at Danny, but his tone seemed light and joking. Oh, if only Danny was better at reading people he wasn't as familiar with. "You need to have ghostly allies too?"

"Well, I _am_ half ghost and not just human," he joked back, hoping he was reading the atmosphere right. "And I've had my current allies for a while, you know? Wulf and Dora and Frostbite, among others."

Technus stilled for a moment. Then he jolted back into action. "You know Frostbite of the Far Frozen? And Queen Dorathea of Aragon?"

"Uh, yeah." Danny floated to the other side of the desk so he could watch Technus and the earphones simultaneously. "Dora is a close friend of mine, and Frostbite and his people worship me for defeating Pariah Dark. Why? Are they that well known in the Zone?"

The other ghost looked up from the gadgets to stare Danny in the eye. "Ghost-Child, your ignorance never fails to impress me." Then his head turned down again as he continued working.

"What, you're just gonna say that and not explain?" Danny's spectral tail twitched in irritation, aura brightening slightly. "Should I have mentioned Pandora as well? I mean, it's not like any of them are like Clockwork, right?"

Snorting, Technus shook his head. "Clockwork is just a legend, child."

"Legendarily annoying, you mean." Danny rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his elbow which rested on nothing. "But I was serious about those guys being my allies, you know? Frostbite taught me how to use my ice powers, even."

"Yes yes, of course he did." Technus glanced between some of the parts he had just pried loose. "Between their tech and these gadgets of your parents, I could've made functioning phones ages ago."

"Really?" Danny blinked, eyeing the ghost suspiciously. "If it's just that easy, we can go to the Far Frozen right now. They'll want to keep a close eye on you to make sure you don't steal anything else, but otherwise it'll be fine."

The tech ghost looked up, eye-lenses wide. "You were serious? Yes, yes, let us go immediately." He dumped the partially-deconstructed Fenton Phone on his worktable, pushing himself up into the air.

"I don't joke about these things," Danny said, half-offended. "I really _am_ allied with these ghosts, and friends with most of them as well."

Technus nodded along as they exited the lair. Then he paused, frowning. "Wait. So what about Clockwork? He's just a Ghost Zone legend, right? How did you even hear about him?"

"He kept sending ghosts from the future to fight me," Danny explained with a lopsided grin. "Eventually I followed one of those to Clockwork's lair, got into a bit of a fight with him, and fell through one of his viewing screens into the future. Found my way back, took out the bad future me that came along, and apparently that was Clockwork's plan all along."

Huffing out a breath, Technus shook his head. "Jeez, child. That sounds too crazy to be true, but even crazier to have made up."

"Yeah, no kidding." Danny laughed. "Try living it."

"Not exactly alive anymore." Technus slowed, letting Danny take the lead. "How far is the Far Frozen anyway?"

"Well…" Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, it's quite a ways, actually. When I visited with my parents last week, it took over an hour at the Specter Speeder's highest speed."

Technus glanced over at Danny, narrowing his eyes. Then he sighed. "And you are, once again, serious. You're lucky that the Far Frozen has such attractive technology and that I've wanted to take a look at it for decades."

Danny's grin crept back onto his face. "Gotta get some good luck to balance out all the bad, sometimes."

"That's depressing, Phantom."

* * *

"Alright," Technus mumbled as a bit of tech clicked into place. "This should've done the trick."

Danny looked up from his book – English homework for Lancer – and at his fellow ghost. "So how did it work, again?"

"It's a chip. It needs to be installed in a phone for it to be able to connect to any other phone carrying the chip." He held it out to Danny, demonstratively. "I've got two of these so we can test them. After that I can easily replicate it to make more."

"So I'll still need to equip everyone with phones." Danny took the small device from Technus, turning it around in his hand. It was small. Smaller than his fingernail, even. He glanced away from it, back at Technus. "Do you have a phone to test this with?"

The ghost scoffed. "Who do you take me for, Ghost-Child? Of course I have a mobile phone!"

"Right, of course, I should've known." Danny shook his head, using his free hand to pull out his phone. "So where should I plug this thing in?"

"Just phase it in. It'll work even while intangible." Technus shrugged at Danny's incredulous look. "Listen, most phones don't have a whole lot of free space, yeah? Easiest way to make it as compatible as possible is to make it work while intangible."

Danny paused, thinking that over for a moment. Then he sighed, phasing the chip into his phone. "Yeah, alright, I guess that that's fair."

Just then his phone beeped, and he looked down at the screen. A new text message from an unknown number, simply reading _'hello world'_. He glanced over to Technus, who was now holding a phone as well.

"Really?" he asked, unamused. "Was that really the most creative thing you could think of?"

Technus clicked his tongue. "You disappoint me, Phantom. Your little tech-buddy would've gotten the joke, I'm sure."

Rolling his eyes, Danny stuck his phone back into his pocket. "Yeah, sure, whatever makes you feel better. I'll send you a text when I make it back to the Human World, and then we can try calling after that?"

"Of course, Ghost-Child." Technus sat down on the edge of his worktable. "But go and hurry, yes? I get bored waiting."

"I'm not even gone yet!" Danny protested, floating over to the door. "But, just for you, I'll fly at my top speed, alright?"

He didn't hear whether Technus replied or not, as he'd already left the lair. True to word, he zipped to his parents' Portal at top speed. He really hoped it had worked. Convincing Frostbite to let Technus access the Far Frozen tech hadn't been as easy as he'd thought.

At least Technus himself seemed to have warmed up to Danny, now. Apparently his various Ghost Zone allies were too threatening for Technus to risk opposing. Well, if it worked, it worked.

Turning invisible just before he left the Zone, and intangible immediately after, Danny passed through his house unnoticed. He and Technus had decided beforehand that it would be best for him to put some distance between the phone and the Portal, as that might influence the reach as well.

He paused high above Amity Park, looking over the city. _His_ city. With a grin, he pulled his phone from his pocket. First registering Technus in his contacts, he send a text back.

'_made it to amity,'_ he simply said.

After a few long moments, his phone rang. Grinning wider, he answered it.

"_Ghost-Child!"_ Technus said, his voice crackling like static – even worse so over the phone than in real life, but that might not be a side-effect from the chip but from Technus himself. _"It worked, just like I said, didn't it!"_

"Uh, yeah. Your voice is kinda static-y, but you tend to sound like that while possessing technology as well so I don't think that the chip is to blame for that."

"_Ha! No, it is not. My technology is flawless, Phantom! I, unfortunately, am not. But I will be, eventually!"_ Technus paused for a moment, a heavy rustling of his clothes filling the line instead. _"I will have as many chips as you want for you tomorrow. Bring me a laptop like promised and I'll leave your town alone."_

"And the rest of the Human World as well?" Danny's grin fell a little as his eyes narrowed. Count on Technus to try for a loophole.

"_Yes yes, of course. I might come visit Amity, but I will let you know beforehand and I will behave well,"_ the ghost promised.

"Alright. I'll come by tomorrow, then." Danny's ears picked up an unfortunately familiar hum in the distance. "Anyway, I gotta go, Technus. I'll get you that laptop, yeah?"

He hung up before the other could reply, just as Valerie entered his view.

"Phantom," she growled, a gun forming in her hands. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Convincing Technus to stop attacking Amity Park," Danny said casually as he pocketed his phone again. "You're welcome, by the way."

"I'm not falling for your charade, Phantom." The pink elements of her gun started glowing, clearly preparing a shot. Danny got the feeling that she was glaring at him from behind her helmet. "Now release your hold on the Fentons and _leave_."

"I'm not doing anything to the Fentons!" he protested, throwing his hands up. "Just because they've realized that I'm not the bad guy doesn't mean that I _did_ anything!"

"You're just leading them to their deaths!" Valerie tensed, her fingers visibly clenching around the gun despite the thick armor around them. "And then before we know it, they'll be gone or dead and _you_ will be to blame!"

"If I wanted them dead I would've done it already!" Danny snapped before he could really think about it. Knowing he couldn't take back his words, he continued at a quieter tone. "I've been in the Ghost Zone with them _twice_ already. If I really _did_ want them dead, wouldn't that have been the perfect moment for it?"

Valerie snorted. "Like you ghosts are logical in any way. You're not fooling me, Phantom."

"I think that you said 'I absolutely refuse you ever believe you,' wrong." He lowered his arms, crossing them instead. "But I've got better things to do. See you hopefully never, Val."

Turning himself invisible, he dodged to the side in case she reflexively pulled the trigger. Sometimes it was hard to believe that the two of them had ever worked together. Multiple times, even!

He shook his head, flying away from her before she could get out her ghost scanner. Buying the laptop for Technus – and phones for his allies – would cost most of his saved money, but it would be worth it.

Now he just had to convince Jazz to let him phase the chip into her phone.

* * *

Danny left Sidney's new phone in their shared locker at the start of the day. He had already added his own phone number, but otherwise the contact list was saddeningly empty. Soon, hopefully, Jazz's number would join as well.

During lunch, his phone buzzed with a new text. Tucker and Sam looked confused, but didn't say anything. Most of their lunches were spent in silence nowadays, anyway.

He supposed that they'd grown apart. One day, maybe, he could mend this relationship, too.

The text was, of course, from Sidney. _'you really got me a phone?'_

'of course I did!' he texted back. 'has that new chip as well, so it works in both dimensions.'

'_holy moley!'_ Sidney answered. _'thank you! it is much appreciated!'_

'thank me when I convince jazz to get hers chipped as well.'

Sidney's answer was a happy-faced emoticon. Danny felt his lip quirk into a smile, but caught Sam's deepening frown from the corner of his eye and felt the happiness disappear again. Why couldn't things just be _easy_ for once?

Instead of explaining himself he took a big bite of his lunch. He had no excuses. None that wouldn't involve a lot of lies, that wouldn't just hurt them more.

When had his life gotten so complicated?

* * *

"Phantom," Valerie said, sounding more resigned than angry. "What are you doing _now_?"

"Making imaginary friends," he replied, dryly. He hadn't looked away from the phones in his hands. There were several more lying scattered around him.

"_Why_."

"Well, in actuality I'm working on being able to communicate with my friends and allies without having to travel between dimensions." He confirmed the contact on the new phone, then looked at Valerie. "This way my friends can contact me without having to come to Amity if there's trouble. Unless you prefer it when they come here?"

"So one of these," she gestured at the wide spread of cheap cellphones, "is yours?"

"Uh, yeah." Danny flipped the phone in his left hand closed, laying it down on the rooftop he was sitting on. "But don't worry, these are all totally legit. I bought them with actual legal money."

She snorted. "Yeah, uh huh. Like I would believe that."

"If I was stealing them, would I really have gone for the cheapest phones I could get?" He raised a brow at her, wishing he could see her face to read her expression. "Come on. Do you really think that badly of me, Red?"

"Worse, actually, but good try." She shifted, one hand resting on her hip and the other hanging loosely. It would look like a relaxed position if it wasn't for the gun holsters attached to her hips. "Give me your number."

"Wow, I thought you weren't into me?" He wiggled his eyebrows. Hearing her growl, he raised his hands placatingly. "Yeesh, calm down, just joking. But, uh, no can do."

"Why not?" she asked, voice still a low growl.

"Well, um." Come on Fenton, think! You can't give her your number, she'll recognize it as Danny Fenton's. Shoot, he really should've bought a phone just for Phantom. "Well, it's… You see…"

An idea wormed its way into his brain, then, and he smiled. "The problem is that these don't actually work with normal phones. They use a special chip, so they can only connect with phones that also have that chip. Not with actual mobile providers. Sorry, Red."

She stood, unmoving, staring at him. Then she relaxed a smidgen. "Alright, fine. I'm willing to believe that, for now. But if I found out you lied to me…" she let the threat hang.

"I gotcha, I gotcha!" He glanced down at the phones. Only one more needed setting up, but that was Wulf's and he had no way to reach the ghost anyway. Looking back at Valerie, he said, "I'm about done here, anyway. I'll go and get out of your hair, deliver these to the Ghost Zone. If you run into Wulf, can you let me know or send him to me?"

"Who the hell is Wulf?" She crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Please tell me that you didn't name your dog _Wulf_."

"Nah." Danny flapped a hand, using his telekinesis to gather the phones again. "Wulf named himself. He's more werewolf-y. Big, with black fur and green eyes. Huge claws. Can rip holes into reality to create portals between this world and the Ghost Zone." He shot her a lopsided grin. "Nothing special. You probably won't run into him, but you never know with that guy."

"There are ghosts that can create their own portals?" Valerie asked, apparently focusing on that specific bit. Danny hoped that she had heard the rest, too. "That's not a common ability, right?"

"Nah, no worries." He pocketed all the phones, thanking his parents for the many surprisingly roomy pockets on his belt. "Wulf is one of the few ghosts I know who can do it. And they're usually not malevolent – they have no reason to cause trouble since they can avoid unwanted contact much more easily."

Valerie shook her head. "Somehow, Phantom, every thing I learn about your kind just makes me _more_ worried instead of less."

"It's a familiar feeling," he assured her with a grin. "Trust me, I'm still learning more and more myself. Anyway, thanks for not shooting me, Red. See you around."

"I hope not," Valerie muttered as he flew off.

* * *

It was, once again, the weekend. Danny rung the doorbell, then phased into his own house, dropping his invisibility.

"Oh, Phantom!" Jazz looked up from where she was sitting in the living room, reading a book. "Come to kidnap my parents again?"

"Eh, not really." He shrugged, floating closer. "A while ago we did some tests with my abilities, but we never did all of them, so I thought we could finish them today." Then he curled his hand around his chin, in a thoughtful look. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you as well."

"Me?" Jazz asked, intrigued. She put down her book, turning to face him fully. "What about?"

"As you might've heard, we've been working on getting phones to work in the Ghost Zone." He sat down on the arm of the couch, his boots resting on the seat. "And, in part thanks to your parents, we did it! Dora really enjoyed your talk, so she was hoping to share phone numbers so you could talk more."

"Oh! Yes, sure." Jazz fished her phone out, flipping it open. "What's her number?"

Danny made a face. "Well, it's not quite that easy." He pulled out a chip from his pocket – the last one that hadn't been connected to a phone. "See, the phones can only connect with each other if they all have this special chip in them. It needs to be phased into a phone – _your_ phone."

"Alright." She held out her phone. "If it won't do any damage, go and phase it into my phone, then."

"You sure?" he asked, taking the phone from her hand already.

"I trust you, Phantom." She sat back. "If you say it won't do any harm, it won't."

His lip quirked into a smile. "Thanks." The chip was phased into her phone, and he handed it back. "I… I really appreciate that. Your trust, I mean."

"Of course." She glanced down at her phone, then back up at him. "Say, does Sidney have a phone as well? Since he spends most of his time around here?"

"I got him one too, yeah." He smiled knowingly. "Let me guess, you want his number as well?"

"Definitely." She nodded. "Say, have they ever met?"

"No, not yet. I've been planning to introduce them, but I haven't had a chance to, yet." He leaned back, his weight resting on his hands. "Why? You hoping to introduce them, too?"

"I think they would get along well," she admitted, a somewhat hesitant grin on her face.

"And being a group of friends will be better for everyone involved as well?" Danny suggested, knowing that that was what she was planning for. Or so he hoped. It was definitely what _he_ wanted to happen.

"Uh… yeah. Absolutely." She nodded a little _too_ enthusiastically. "And, um, Phantom?"

"Yeah?" He stopped digging through his pockets for the sheet of paper he'd used to write down the numbers for Sidney and Dora.

"If I give you my number, can you spread it among the ghosts?" She fidgeted with her hands, as if she'd suddenly gotten shy over asking. "When I met Sidney, he said something that really hit me. That happy people don't become ghosts, that most ghosts have trauma regarding their life – or death."

"I mean, I guess so…" Danny said, uncertainly. "But how does that relate to…?"

"Well… these ghosts don't seem to have any psychiatrists or anything," she started to explain, haltingly. "So I thought… I can help Sidney, and I can help Dora. But there are so many more ghosts that could use my help, too. And if phones become more widespread, they could text or call me for advice, or ask to drop by. And then I can do my best for them, too."

Danny blinked, surprised. He wasn't sure why this had caught him off-guard so badly; Jazz had certainly seemed intent on doing this for every ghost she'd encountered so far. "Um, sure, I guess? But you might want to tell your parents as well, if you plan on having ghosts come by."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right." She stood up suddenly. "Come on, they're in the lab. They might not have heard the doorbell, otherwise they would've come up already."

Floating up from the couch, Danny trailed after his sister. "Say, not that I don't appreciate you wanting to help ghosts, but… Are you sure you're ready to deal with them? Especially ones that might've attacked Amity Park before?"

"Maybe not." She shrugged, not looking at him. "But if I don't try, who will?"

* * *

This is actually one of my least favorite chapters so far, not because it's bad per se, but because it's kind of all over the place? Also not a lot of fluff so :/ Writing Technus was a lot of fun though, and we're seeing a little more of Val in this AU!  
Also I wrote chapter 10 yesterday and I'm Big Excite about it! Can't wait for it to go up.


	9. Chapter 9

Jazz stepped off of the stairs and into the lab, and Danny floated in right behind her. Their parents didn't look up, laser-focused on… the Ghost Catcher? The invention laid on the table in front of them, partially dismantled. The netting, he noticed, had been removed entirely.

"Mom, dad?" Jazz asked, carefully.

They looked up simultaneously, startled, eyes opening wider when they saw him floating beside Jazz.

"Oh! We hadn't heard you, either of you." Maddie turned off her blowtorch and put it down. "I'm sorry, we were so busy we must've been zoning out."

"It's alright," Danny assured them, ignoring Jazz's annoyed nudge. Clearly she didn't agree, and in most cases he would, too; his parent's obsession with their work could be aggravating at times. But considering what they were working on, their new stance on ghosts, it made him think that they were trying to be nice. To change themselves, and change their inventions along the way.

Jack put down his tools as well, pulling off his goggled hood. "Jazzy-pants, did you want to talk to us as well, or were you just dropping Phantom off?"

"Oh, well, actually." She shifted, uncertain, and now Danny was the one to nudge her, encouragingly. "I was thinking… could I invite some ghosts here?"

Their parents exchanged glances. A frown creased Maddie's brow when she turned back to them. "Like Sidney, or Queen Dora? I suppose that that's alright. I guess the inter-dimensional phones work, then, Phantom?"

"Yep." He nodded. "With your Fenton Phones and some of the technology from the Far Frozen Technus managed it. He promised to stop causing trouble in Amity as well, and that he would let me know if he wanted to come visit normally, but I'm not entirely sure I trust him on that."

"Best not," his dad agreed with a grimace. "That ghost can cause such havoc, and with his control over technology he can be hard to stop."

"Yeah, no kidding." Danny shook his head. Then he realized that they had derailed the conversation and bumped Jazz a little forward again. "But, to get back to the original topic, I don't think that Jazz was talking about Sid and Dora. Not exclusively, at least, right Jazz?"

"Uh, yeah, no." She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, a show of anxiety Danny rarely saw from her, similar to his own neck rubbing. "I was actually thinking… hoping… to invite other ghosts here as well? I know from Sidney and Dora that there are a lot of traumatized ghosts out there, and they can't just go to any psychiatrist."

She shrugged, gathering her confidence again now that she was in her element. "So I thought, why not me? I'm already helping Sidney, and I'm helping Dora, and I've got a phone that can connect with them while they're in the Ghost Zone. Most wouldn't even come by, I don't think."

"And if they _do_?" Maddie asked, frowning. "What if they're dangerous?"

"I can stay close by, just in case," Danny suggested. "Obviously it won't be perfect, because I can't be close enough for them to tell, but still. If something goes wrong, she just has to call and I'll come. But I don't think it'll be necessary."

Maddie clicked her tongue. "And why not?"

"Because most ghosts really _could_ use someone like Jazz." Danny's shoulders sagged. "And even those who don't will respect that. No one wants to see their fellow ghosts miserable. Even the most aggressive, the ones that hunker for a fight, prefer an opponent with a fresh mind and a healthy lust for life. Or, well, unlife. Ghost life? Uh, anyway. You get what I mean, right?"

She looked between him and Jazz, her stern expression softening. "Yes, I understand. Jazz, if you make sure you're carrying equipment and let us know beforehand, I'm alright with it. Jack?"

"I agree. Let us check the gear beforehand, though, to make sure it all works." He nodded, once, then smiled. "I'm happy to see you interested in ghosts as well, Jazzy-Pants, even if it's in your own way!"

Smiling back, Jazz nudged Danny and said, "Yes, well, thank Phantom for making me think of it in the first place. And Sidney, I suppose, for mentioning that most ghosts are traumatized by their life and/or death."

"Well, you're welcome, I guess." He laughed, floating closer to his parents. "Never knew that just acting like myself could've done such good, but I'll gladly take it."

She tsk'd and shook her head. "You're an enigma, Phantom." Then, turning to their parents, she said, "Well, I'll let you three get working on ghost science then."

"Good luck with Sidney and Dora," Danny shouted back as she turned around. She waved a hand as she walked through the doorway, and he grinned.

"So, Phantom, any plans for today?" Jack asked when she was gone.

Shrugging, Danny turned to face them properly. "I was thinking of continuing the testing of my powers? I realized that we never got around to doing the last few, the less basic ones."

Maddie frowned, thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose you're right. That leaves mostly your offensive abilities, right? Ecto-rays, shields, telekinesis?"

"Those, and my ice powers, electric powers, and my Ghostly Wail. Not that I'll show that last one, but still." He scratched his cheek, mentally checking over his list. Ecto-ray, ecto shield, ghost stinger, ghostly wail, cryokinesis… and duplication, but he didn't plan on showing that one. He mostly used it to protect his identity anyway. Splitting his strength across multiple bodies was rarely useful in a fight. "Yeah, that should be all of them."

"Where do you want to start, kiddo?" Jack had bounced over to grab a notepad, which Danny guessed was the same one as earlier. Or maybe it wasn't. Honestly, who knew with his parents. "Ecto-rays, maybe? We have equipment to measure the strength, and a shooting range for accuracy."

"Sounds good." Danny nodded, lifting a little higher in the air. "Where is this shooting range hidden, then?"

A beep and a grinding noise behind him, and Danny whirled around to see one of the walls opening up. His mom stood beside it, hand on a lever. "Right here."

"Well, damn." Danny whistled, impressed despite himself. He supposed it made sense that his parents had a shooting range in the lab, but he kind of wished he had known about it sooner. Could've helped a lot, back when he first started. "Is the strength-measuring-thing separately, or…?"

"No swearing," his mom corrected with a tired but parental tone. "And no, as long as you hit the targets they can measure the strength of the blast as well. Their original purpose was to test our guns, after all."

"Makes sense." He floated over to the line on the ground, landing soundlessly. "Is this the place you're supposed to stand, then?"

Jack wandered closer, flipping the notebook to a new page. "Yes, exactly. Can you hit the target with a couple of 'normal' strength blasts, first? And then after that we'll test the range of your strength, the weakest and the strongest."

"Sounds good to me." He created a whirling ball of green ectoplasm around his hand, the light reflected on the dented steel walls around them. "Should I hit separate ones, or the same one multiple times?"

"Go for a wider range," Maddie recommended from where she stood to the side. "It'll give us a better idea of your aim, too. We've seen it in the field, but aim in the middle of battle and aim while standing still isn't the same."

Huffing out a laugh, Danny replied, "Yeah, no kidding. I thought I did a good job of teaching myself good aim until I had to fight other ghosts. No wonder people complained about the property damage."

Lighting up his other hand as well, he stretched out the right in front of him. "I can start already, right?"

"Go for it," both of his parents chorused, and Danny grinned. It felt good to release his energy without the threat of other ghosts for once.

After his years of practice hitting moving ghosts, the static targets were, well, easy targets. He made sure to modulate his strength, firing blasts and rays of moderate strength. The amount of power he would use against most of his enemies. The humans, he hit only with the weakest rays, and only ever to disarm, rather than direct hits.

"Good show," his mom commented when he stopped. "Pretty powerful hits, though the exact strength varied a little. Stronger than most of our weaponry, though. And this wasn't the top of your range, right?"

"Uh, no." He watched as his dad copied over the notes from the computer. "This is what I usually use against enemy ghosts. I can go a bunch stronger, but usually that's not really necessary, or it might be too dangerous if the ghost is harder to hit. If there's a high risk of missing, I don't want it to be at full power."

"Good thinking," his dad complimented, sticking up a thumb in his direction. "Now, have you ever tried out how little power you can put behind your rays?"

"Yeah, actually." Danny shook out his hands demonstratively, a smirk crawling onto his face. "I only use the weakest of my blasts if I ever aim at human hunters. I never aim to hit them directly, either, only to disarm. And even then, as little power as possible."

"Well, what d'you know." Jack scratched his cheek, then shrugged. "Still, I would be interested in seeing the exact strength for that. Go ahead, Phantom."

"Sure, alright." He coiled up his power, then made a finger gun and released the tiniest amount of power as he could. The beam, thin and faltering, hit the target dead-on.

"Is the finger gun necessary?" his mom asked, tone somewhere between exasperated and curious. "Or is it just more fun, or more taunting?"

"A little of both," Danny admitted with a shrug, shooting off another beam with his other hand. "At the weakest, my beams are only small, so its easier to expel them if I fire from a finger instead of the center of my hand. Plus it helps keep apart the different levels in strength – this way it's easier to not accidentally fire off a full-power shot."

"You've put so much thought into all of these things." Maddie shook her head with a soft sigh. "But why?"

Danny snorted, turning to face her – and his dad – instead of the targets. "With my reputation I have to think of _everything_. Ghost hunters already vilify me for firing at them in the first place. Now imagine if I accidentally hit them strong enough to hurt? That would ruin me."

Then he weaved his fingers together, cracking them loudly. "So, full power next?"

Both of his parents narrowed their eyes at the less-than-subtle topic change, but they let it slide. His dad quickly took note of the data, while his mom nodded at him. "Yes. The targets should be able to survive even your strongest, and the wall definitely will. So give it your all, Phantom."

"Will do." He grinned, widely, and grasped for as much power as he could. There was a hard limit to how much energy he could expel at once via his rays, of course. If he wanted to cross that, he had to dip into his Ghostly Wail – and risk transforming back because he expelled _too_ _much_ energy. That didn't happen with his ecto-rays.

Not anymore, at least. Early on, everything cost way more power, and he had had way less stamina.

His aura brightened in response to the gathering energy, green ectoplasm wreathing his hands. Pushing them together and out in front of him, he fired a ray at his full strength.

The target groaned but, surprisingly, held on. It _was_, however, severely blackened.

Jack whistled lowly, impressed. "That was pretty impressive, Phantom."

"Um, thanks." Danny's shoulders shot up, a green blush crawling onto his face. "I can, uh, fire a few more?"

"That would be nice." Maddie looked over the targets with a grimace. "But maybe aim for a different one, just to be safe."

"Will do." He focused back onto his core, calling onto his internal ectoplasmic energy. Another shot was fired, and then a third. Finally he launched off a fourth.

"That's all I can do for now, if we still want to test all my other powers," he said, panting a little from the exertion. "In a regular battle I would try more, of course, but–"

"–But there's no need for that now, no." Maddie patted him on the shoulder. "It was pretty impressive, Phantom, especially those three in short succession. You did great, sweetie."

The blush returned, and Danny stammered out a "Thanks."

Jack finished writing, turning back to him and Maddie. "So what's next? Another offensive power, or the ghost shield?"

"We can do my cryokinesis next." Danny formed a snowball in his hand, throwing it up and down experimentally. "None of my other powers require the targets. Cryokinesis has a variety of forms, but I normally use it as a ray, similar to my ecto-ray."

"Good, good." She gestured over to the targets. "Go when you're ready, then."

He threw the snowball first, hitting the closest target dead-center, then followed it up with an ice ray. Ice crawled around the impact site, quickly covering the entire target. Danny let up his power, diverting the energy to form an ice spike instead. This, too, he threw, but at a different target. Another spike, and another hit as a metal target was pierced.

"How was that?" he asked when he turned back to his parents, grinning. But the smile fell when he noticed their frowns. "What? What's wrong?"

The two of them exchanged glances. Then Maddie cleared her throat and said, carefully, "Are you aware that your… eyes change? When you do that?"

He blinked. Blinked again. Then pinched his nose. "_Yeah_," he groaned, "Frostbite mentioned it, way back when I first got them. I kinda forgot. They turn blue, right?" Not the same blue as his human form, Frostbite had said, and the glow helped set them apart. But he really wished he had remembered before now. He could only hope that his parents would grow suspicious, wouldn't link his human and ghost forms with this new information.

"So it's normal?" his dad asked, sounding mildly relieved. "Strange though, isn't it, for your eyes to change when you're using this specific power?"

"Eh, not really." Danny shrugged, hoping to play it off, so that everyone would forget it happened. "It's pretty normal for really intrinsic powers, like my ice and Plasmius' fire. His eyes get more pink and glowy when he uses that, to match his pink fire."

Danny held out a hand, slowly building an ice sculpture in the open palm to demonstrate the change of eyes – and another application of his power. "It's why some people think ghosts have elemental cores. All powers come from the same point in our bodies, the core, but the way it affects the rest of the body differs. It depends on the circumstances – the ghost, the power, and how it's acquired. Cryokinesis for the Far Frozen yetis is normal, so it doesn't change them when they use it, but I gained it later. Vice versa, if any of them developed, for example, ecto-electricity, I bet it would change something about _their_ appearance, too."

"That… makes sense." His dad's hand moved quickly as he scribbled all the new information down. "The implication that your powers aren't set is very interesting, though. I wonder how they're determined?"

"I dunno, to be honest." His power petered off again, and he raised the statue to check its clarity. Crystal-clear – Frostbite would've been proud. "Some powers definitely seem to be pre-set. And to be honest, I seem to gain powers much more easily than many others. It's adaptability, maybe? Because I fight so many diverse enemies, I develop a lot of diverse abilities?"

"That _does_ sound logical," his mom admitted. "It would certainly be interesting to research it further, perhaps speak with other ghosts about it. But for now, which power do you want to try next?"

He shrugged, the ice sculpture melting away again. "Ghost Stinger, I suppose. I assume you have a way to measure the charge, since that's probably the part you'll find most interesting?"

"Your… 'Ghost Stinger'?" Maddie frowned, looking over at Jack and then back to Danny. "I don't think we've heard that name yet."

"Not?" Then he realized and groaned. "Right, of course, duh. My ecto-electicity, I meant. I call it my Ghost Stinger sometimes, since it's shorter."

"Not _much_ shorter," his dad muttered as he started digging through a box. "Ecto-electro sounds catchier, doesn't it?"

Danny snorted. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I tend to shorten it to Stinger. Easier to remember. But not very scientific, I'll admit. It's an older power, and an older name."

"Jack, I've found it already, honey." Maddie stepped closer, a machine with two cords running from it in her hands. The ends of the cables, she handed to Danny. "Take one in each hand and send the power through those. It was made to handle our inventions, so it'll survive you too, I'm sure."

"_Are_ you sure?" Danny asked with a smirk, taking the ends in each hand. "Maybe put down the thing, just to be sure."

She did, placing the machine on a table. "Well, do your worst, Phantom."

Smirk widening into a grin, he did. Crackling green electricity sparked from his core, visibly running down his arms and into the cables. As the charge ran over the cables, his dad whistled once more.

"What a light show!" he called, joyfully. "You can _see_ the power running from his core, look at that, Maddie! It's incredible!"

Danny released the power, the air loud with static. "Thanks," he huffed between breaths. "Glad you enjoyed the show."

Both of them stepped forward, Maddie checking the data while Jack clapped a hand on Danny's shoulder, ignoring the sparks that still bounced over his jumpsuit. "It was very impressive, Phantom. A scientific wonder, for sure, but also a beautiful show of your power."

"It was nothing compared to the Ghostly Wail, power-wise. There's a reason why I never use that power – and why I refuse to show it to you." Danny grinned tiredly. "But thanks. It's… nice, to have someone impressed over my abilities outside of, y'know, combat."

"And what power," Maddie commented, showing Jack the readings. "It was quite amazing, Phantom."

Cold flushed down his cheeks, glowing green blush finding its way back. "Thanks. Both of you, really, thanks. But, um. Next power?"

"Shield or telekinesis?" Jack asked, accepting the topic change. "Both would be pretty similar to test, I think."

"Let's start with the shield first." Danny prodded his core, checking his energy levels, but he had plenty to spare. No need to worry about running out and shifting back. "Since it's a much older power than telekinesis."

"The shield stops physical objects and ectoplasmic attacks, right?" Maddie reached into the box she had just put the electric machine in, pulling out a tube with tennis balls. "So we can test it with these, first?"

"Uh, yeah." Danny floated towards the shooting range, hovering in the air. "Those'll do just fine. I'll go over here so the bouncing balls won't wreck your entire lab."

"Good plan." She pulled out several balls, handing a few over to Jack as well. "We'll circle around, try to get you from any direction. Start with a circular shield, and we'll pause before trying a flat one."

A green bubble made out of ectoplasmic glass formed around him, and he stuck up a thumb. "Hit me with your worst!"

The first tennis ball hit right in front of his face, and Danny reflexively flinched back a step. "Good throw," he complimented his mom.

Many more followed it, thudding off of his shield from several directions. Like Maddie had said, his parents were circling around the bubble from the ground, hitting him from various angles.

Then, suddenly, a sound closer to a _shink_ than a _thud_ came, and Danny whirled around inside the bubble. Protruding from the outside was a card, it's corner buried into the ecto-glass shield.

"What was _that_?" he asked, turning himself back to his parents, rotating the bubble simultaneously. "I thought we were using tennis balls!"

"We were!" his dad called back, a sheepish expression on his face. "But I was gonna hand you that card, and then I went to throw a ball and I threw the card instead!"

Danny started at the man, incredulous. Then he sighed, collapsing the bubble. The card, now freed, fell to the floor of the lab. "_Really_."

"Sorry." His dad ducked down, grabbing the card from the floor. Then he presented it to Danny again. "Here you go, kiddo."

He took the card from Jack's hand, flipping it over the read the other side. It was… a birthday invitation?

"What's…?"

"It's an invitation!" Jack boomed, grinning wide but a little uncertain. "For my birthday! It's a week or two out yet, but I was sending out the invitations and realized I had no way of getting one to you."

"Thanks, but, um." Danny paused, looking at the card in his hands instead of his dad. "It's… I'm just a ghost, you know? Why would you…?"

His dad swung an arm around his shoulders, pulling Danny in close to his side. "Well, Phantom, you're like a son to me! So _of course_ you're invited to come, too! Ghost or not!"

Flushing bright green, Danny hid his face in his hands. "But-"

"No buts," the man insisted, reaching to ruffle Danny's hair with his other hand. "If you really don't want to come I won't make you, Phantom, but you really _are_ invited. I'm serious, kiddo."

Danny peeked between his fingers, locking eyes with the bright blue of his dad. "…thanks. I'll, uh. I'll be there."

* * *

Maneuvering through the crowded living room, Jack glanced at the clock. The party had been going on for a bit, but not everyone had shown up. Not yet. He hadn't seen Vlad yet, but that man had said that he wasn't sure he could make it.

More importantly, Jack hadn't seen _Phantom_ yet. The ghost had said he would come. Had something happened? Had he simply gotten cold feet? Had he realized that more of Jack's ghost-hunting family members would be present?

Spotting a messy mob of black hair pass him by, he grabbed Danny's shoulders and pulled him towards himself.

"Danny-boy! Have you seen Phantom?"

His son blinked large surprised eyes at him, then shook his head in the negative. "Nope, sorry. But there's still time, right? It's not that late yet."

Jack sighed, releasing his son again. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry for bothering you, kiddo."

"It's fine." Danny patted his hand. "I'm sure he'll show up-"

The doorbell rang, and lamely, Danny finished, "-before you know it."

Laughing, Jack clapped him on the shoulder. "Looks like you were right. It's either him or Vladdie, I think. Come, let's greet him."

"Um." Before Danny could protest, however, Jack started dragging him along to the front door. How exciting! Danny hadn't interacted with Phantom much yet, and Jack was eager to change that. The two were of similar age, he was sure, and they both looked like they could use more friends of their own age. Danny, especially, could use more close friends.

Sam and Tucker were nice, but they rarely came over anymore. And he didn't know if his son had any friends besides those two. Didn't think so, at least.

The door swung open, and Phantom flickered into visibility almost immediately. The ghost smiled up at Jack, and then glanced past him with a frown.

"Hey Phantom," he greeted, ignoring this last bit and instead stepping aside to let him in. "Happy to see you made it."

"Wouldn't dare miss it," the ghost replied, still staring at Danny instead of Jack. "After you went out of your way to invite me, of course I came." Then finally he ripped his eyes off of Jack's son to look at him. "I brought you a little present too. Do you want to unwrap it here, or later?"

"Oh, you didn't have to." But Jack grinned, wondering what the ghost could've gotten him. Were there ghostly birthday traditions? Did ghosts even celebrate birthdays at all, or did they celebrate something similar? A formation day? A _death_ day? "Come, I'll unwrap it in the living room. Can't hide in the hallway the whole time."

Phantom laughed, floating after him. "Yeah, right you are."

Danny had fallen silent, trailing after them. Jack glanced over his shoulder to look at his son, but the boy was staring at the floor. Something strange was going on between him and Phantom, and suddenly Jack started to wonder if Danny's excuse way before, that he "already saw Phantom so often", had been true at all. Was something else going on between those two?

They entered the living room, and immediately everything quieted. It was as if everyone's eye had been drawn to them. Not that this was entirely surprising; Phantom drew a lot of attention with his appearance.

The ghost, apparently made nervous by all the attention, drifted lower and further behind Jack. His son, rather than assist, strode forward and disappeared into the crowd. Jack would've tried stopping him, but for the moment Phantom was more important. He could figure out why Danny was upset with the ghost later.

Jack was about to ask Phantom for the present when he noticed his sister pushing her way closer. The woman burst through the crowd, face twisted in a scowl.

"Jack, what's _that_ doing here?" she yelled.

"He's my guest." He crossed his arms, staring her down. "Now, if you don't mind, he brought me a present and I'd like to unwrap it."

"Oh yeah?" She sniffed haughtily. "What happened to 'all ghosts are dangerous'? To 'never trust a ghost'? But hey, whatever. Your funeral."

He rolled his eyes, making a shooing motion towards his sister. "Thank you, I must've forgotten all about our parents' rants. If you can't be nice, dear sister, please just leave my family alone."

"Your _family_?" she hissed, narrowing her eyes at the ghost. But she stepped back, further into the mass of people, a sneer on her face. "Whatever."

Phantom still hovered over Jack's shoulder, nervously eyeing the crowd. Most weren't as anti-ghost as his sister – gotta love that Fenton family ghost hatred – but several were out-of-towners who weren't familiar with ghosts. Who hadn't realized that they were real, apparently.

"It's fine, Phantom," he said, soft and soothing. "You're my guest, kiddo. Nothing's gonna happen to you."

"If you say so," the ghost muttered back, landing on the floor next to Jack. He reached into a pocket on his belt, revealing a small but well-wrapped present. Curiously, it glowed much like the ghost himself, the packing paper ecto-green.

"It's, uh, from the Ghost Zone." Phantom gestured at it with his empty hand. "As you can probably see."

Jack took the present from Phantom's hand, carefully. The wrapping paper was cold, with that barely-there hum of ectoplasm-infused material. "Is it some kind of traditional ghostly present? Or do ghosts not celebrate something similar to a birthday?"

"Eh." Phantom shrugged. "Kind of depends on the ghost. Some remember their original birthdays and continue to celebrate those. Some celebrate their death days instead, the day they formed as a ghost. Some pick an arbitrary day, wanting the celebration but not knowing their birthday and not willing to celebrate their death. Most don't celebrate anything similar, though."

"Huh." With this new information, Jack looked the present over once more. Then he carefully loosened the bow, opening the lid. And inside…

"Is that… fudge?"

"You like that, right?" Phantom sounded uncertain, a hesitant smile on his face. "It's, um. From the Ghost Zone, but safe for human consumption. Wasn't sure what else to get you."

Jack carefully re-lidded the box, then wrapped his free arm around Phantom. "It's very nice, Phantom. Thank you, kiddo."

The ghost blushed, crumpling in on himself a little. "I'm glad," he muttered.

"I'll go put this somewhere safe." He ruffled Phantom's hair, then, side-eyeing the crowd, said, "You can go hang out with the other guests, if you want. If anyone gives you trouble, come to me or Maddie, okay?"

"I can take care of myself," Phantom grumbled, but he nodded his understanding anyway.

"Just because you _can_ doesn't mean you should have to." Jack stepped further into the room, Phantom walking after him. Keeping to the ground to seem more human, maybe? In the hopes of not alienating himself as much? It would be exactly the kind of thoughtfulness he would expect from the ghost. "You're my guest, Phantom, and I want you to have a good time too."

Phantom huffed out a laugh, nodded again. "I get it, I get it. If there's trouble I'll come, okay? Speaking of trouble, though, I think I'll start with Jazz, if you don't mind. See how the ghost-psychiatrist thing is going for her."

"Ah, yes, that sounds good." Jack glanced over to the people who were now very much pretending not to watch Phantom anymore. "And it might ease some people into your presence, seeing you talk with more people first."

"Yeah, exactly." Phantom nodded, then flapped his hands at Jack. "Now go put that fudge away. I can handle it, alright?"

* * *

Danny watched his dad finally leave, resisting the temptation to sigh. He had only just gotten here, and he already wanted to leave. Or, at least, dispel the duplicate that was still wandering around. He couldn't risk having Danny Fenton disappear right before Phantom appeared, but being forced to interact with himself was… uncomfortable.

Keeping a careful eye on some of the other guests, he wandered over to where his duplicate had been trapped in a conversation by Jazz. He hadn't really been all that interested in Jazz's success as a ghost psychiatrist – he heard enough about it during dinner and such to know it was a success. That, and the other ghosts were quite enthusiastic about it.

But his duplicate wasn't as capable at keeping up with conversations as the real him. So to free Danny Fenton, Phantom had to come over and give him an excuse to leave.

He approached the two siblings, pausing next to Jazz and watching as she chatted up a storm against the blanked-out duplicate. She didn't seem to notice him, so he cleared his throat.

Jazz started, head whirling around in a flash of bright hair. "Oh, Phantom! Sorry, I hadn't heard you coming."

The duplicate shot Danny a grateful look, diving back into the uncaring crowd. He didn't respond, smiling at Jazz instead.

"It's alright. How have you been, Jazz? Things been going alright?"

"Yeah, actually!" She brightened, animatedly moving her hands along with her story. "There's been a lot of interest, even though most seem to prefer to stay anonymous. But a couple have come over, besides Dora and Sidney, of course."

"Oh yeah? I had heard of Ember, that she was willing to stop attacking Amity in return for being allowed to come receive help, but I didn't know there were others."

She nodded energetically. "Oh yeah! A couple have come by to try, but the only repeated guests – besides Ember, of course – have been Johnny and Kitty. Their relationship is, uh." She made a face, wiggling her hand a little. "Well, it could use some help sometimes."

"Oh, definitely," Danny agreed with a laugh. "You wouldn't believe how often Johnny came to me for relationship advice. Like, come on, I'm a teenager with virtually no relationship experience. What was he expecting?"

Also laughing, Jazz shook her head. "And the thing is, Johnny looks so human! He could've gone to a regular human relationship expert and that could've solved most of their problems already! No knowledge about ghosts necessary."

"You're… You're right." Danny groaned into his hand. "I can't believe how much trouble that guy caused me when he could've just gone to literally anyone else."

"At least he meant well?" Jazz suggested, feebly. "And at least he won't do it anymore. Speaking of disarmed enemies, however, I _might_ be working on getting another off of your back."

Danny dropped his hand again, looking at her. "Really? Who?"

"Desiree, the, uh, wishing ghost?" She twirled a lock of her hair. "I'm still working on it, obviously, but I think she does what she does because of her trauma. She already reached out to talk via the phone, but I invited her to come if she won't mess with anyone."

"Huh." He thought that over for a moment, frowning in thought. "I'm not sure if that would work, though. I don't think she can control which wishes she fulfills and which she doesn't. Not currently, at least."

"We'll give it a shot anyway." Jazz shrugged, glancing past him and into the crowd. "On an unrelated note, while Dad meant well when he invited you, I think he might've forgotten how many people are uncomfortable around ghosts. Never mind his ghost-hating relatives."

"Yeah, no kidding," Danny huffed out. "And I mean, I understand, especially for the ones who haven't seen ghosts before but…"

"But it's not very comfortable." She nodded understandingly. "Actually, I have an idea. Come on, I think you've been around long enough to be able to excuse yourself."

"Have I?" Danny asked, but she had already grabbed his wrist and dragged him off.

"They'll understand, anyway." The crowd parted around them, Danny floating after Jazz. He had, previously, stuck to the ground in the hopes of calming the other people down. If he was leaving anyway, he might as well float and make it easier for Jazz to drag him away.

What? It wasn't like he could stop her anyway. Even if he _did_ use his superhuman strength to hold himself back, why _would_ he?

"Jazz, Phantom," Maddie said, apparently surprised to see them both approaching. "What's going on?"

"I suggested that Phantom could leave," Jazz started explaining, cutting Danny off before he could even open his mouth. "Since the other guests don't seem that thrilled to have him around, and it's uncomfortable for everyone involved."

Their dad looked a little sad, but nodded understandingly. "Of course, kiddo. Like I said, I want you to feel welcome. And if you can't be comfortable around the others, not yet, then of course you can leave."

"I'm… Thanks. I'll just…" Danny gestured with his hands, vaguely. "I'll just… go, then. Um. See you guys another time? And have fun with the party."

Jack smiled, and Maddie shook her head with a fond smile on her face. "Yeah, of course! See you soon, Phantom, and thank you for the fudge!"

His lip quirked up into a small smile, and he shot them a quick salute. Then he faded out of visibility, ducking back into the room he had previously left. Now all he had to do was merge back with his duplicate and survive the rest of the party.

Easy.

* * *

Hhh I'm fiddling with the author notes again because I cross-post this between this site and AO3 but obviously not all notes apply equally between the sites. Um. Anyway. I'm introducing the last major-ish character next chapter which I'm excited about, even if the story isn't that long anymore. I've pointed it out in my author notes before, but tbh I keep forgetting that FFN doesn't have a convenient chapter counter for readers to see how far along we are. I've currently written 11 out of the 12 chapters this story will count, and if you're here, you just read chapter 9! So we've got a few more to go still.

I also wanted to throw in a little apology over my author notes last chapter, because I guess it came across stronger than I had intended it? I feel like, as an artist, not every work you produce is a winner. And just the same, not everything I write is as good as my best works. But they're not bad, just not as good? If I really thought a chapter wasn't any good, I wouldn't have posted it as-is, trust me. This one went through a lot of editing to make it good enough to post, and still I like it less than chapter 10 and 11. But that's okay, because not every single one of the 225.000 words I've written can be winner, right?


	10. Chapter 10

She balled her fists, tension straining her muscles. The ghost scanner on her wrist hummed, its sound muted but the display still active. Still showing the one ghost in the area – the one ghost Valerie was tracking.

Not wearing her armor made her feel vulnerable, but… that was sort of the point. Time after time she had preyed upon Phantom, breaking truces just to get the jump on him while he was vulnerable. Now the tables were turned.

Phantom wouldn't use the opportunity, anyway. That much had become clear to Valerie.

As much as it pained her to admit it… She had been mistaken.

A quick glance at the scanner revealed that Phantom had slowed down in a quiet area, and Valerie sped up to chase him. On foot, of course, because she couldn't use her hoverboard without the rest of her suit. Not without putting Phantom on edge, anyway.

She jumped the fence of the park, eyes open to search for Phantom. Valerie could only hope he hadn't gone invisible, because her wrist-bound scanner wasn't _that_ precise.

But no, there he was. Sitting on a low branch of a tree, not even looking in her direction. He mustn't have noticed her, lucky her.

As she was getting closer, she realized that Phantom had his eyes closed. Was he napping? _Could_ ghosts nap? Man, there really was a lot she didn't know about ghosts. Shame on her. Hunting without ever bothering to learn about her prey.

Either way, she now stood at the bottom of the tree and Phantom still hadn't noticed her. With a somewhat malicious grin on her face she clambered up, higher and higher, until she was settled on a branch slightly above Phantom. Then, loudly, she cleared her throat and announced her presence.

"Weather's nice up here, huh?"

The ghost jerked, startled, and rolled off of the branch. One white-gloved hand wrapped around the branch, and he pulled himself back onto it, effortlessly. Likely helped by his ability to float, too.

Then Phantom noticed her and his eyes widened. "Va–" A quick glance around, apparently conscious of the fact that they were in a public area. One that was, luckily, abandoned for the moment. "_Valerie_?"

"The one and only," she confirmed, a casual grin on her face to hide her nerves. Her advanced suit hummed in her mind, ready to form at the drop of a hat, but it wouldn't be quick enough if she needed it.

But she wouldn't need it.

"What are you– Why are you just… sitting there? Not wearing your armor?" He frowned, apparently confused. He seemed a lot more defensive than she had hoped, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing her armor. Or maybe _because _of it. "Is something wrong?"

She snorted. "Besides me? Nah, everything's fine. Just wanted to talk to you."

Phantom shifted, luminescent green eyes worriedly peering up at her. "Something is wrong with you? Something you need my help with?"

"No, jeez, calm down." She held up her hands, and the ghost settled down on the branch again. "Nothing is wrong _with_ me, but _I_ was wrong. About… about ghosts." She paused, glancing away and then back at him. "And about _you_."

"Oh," he said. Then, more strongly, "_Oh._"

"Yeah." She snapped a small branch off of the one she was sitting on, bending the twig to occupy her hands. To distract herself from the conversation. "I mean, there are still some sketchy things in your past, but, I mean, you can say the same for me. As the Red Huntress, too. Nobody's perfect."

"I mean, not that I'm not grateful you changed your mind, but…" Phantom frowned, looking down at his hands. "What, um. What brought this on? What made you change your mind _now_, of all times?"

"Your new alliance with the Fentons, I guess." The twig in her hands snapped, and she dropped the remnants. "I kept an eye on you, and on them, with my scanners. But you weren't influencing them at all, like you said. They had genuinely changed their minds about you. And I didn't understand _why_. So I started thinking about it, wondering about it."

She fell silent. After a few moments, Phantom shook his head and looked up again. "And you decided that maybe they were right? To follow their example?"

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds dumb." She huffed out a laugh. "But yeah, basically. I already knew, from early on, that ghost hunting wasn't quite as black and white as I had first imagined it. Ghosts were malicious, yes, and they attacked people. But then there was that freaky circus guy who controlled you? Made you steal, and attack me? That was messed up. And then suddenly it wasn't the ghost who was the bad guy, but the _human_."

Phantom hummed, an acknowledgment that he was still listening, and she continued her tirade, her explanation. "But I didn't want to acknowledge it, back then. So I ignored that it had happened and kept treating you like the bad guy. Like all ghosts were the same."

Valerie paused again, and this time Phantom filled up the quiet. "And then Dora happened, right?"

"And then Dora happened," she agreed with a nod. "The second time I got kidnapped to the Ghost Zone, except this time I didn't even _know_ the ghost responsible. And I wasn't kidnapped as the Red Huntress but as _Valerie_. Not for my skill but because I was _pretty_."

She snorted, a grin forming on her face. "Boy did he come to regret _that_."

"Oh, definitely." The calmer atmosphere worked to relax Phantom as well, and he leaned back to sit more casually, one leg hanging off of the branch. "I mean, things didn't get magically better, but. Dora is doing good now. She's a really good queen, better than Aragon was for sure, and she's getting over her centuries of trauma too."

"That's good. I'm glad to hear so." She sighed, a little forlorn. "I don't know why it took me so long after that to start realizing that ghosts were so much like humans. I guess I just… pretended that I played along with a dumb specter. That I had tricked a being barely capable of thought into going against its roots. Or something. I dunno."

Another sigh. "Even after the thing with Nocturne. I mean, you came and woke me up despite how I had treated you before. Despite all the truces I broke up, just to get a jump on you. Still you came and got me, wanting to work together." A short humorless laugh. "And I just thought you were an idiot for agreeing to another team-up. Didn't even realize that it wasn't you being dumb, but you seeing the best in everyone. Including me."

"I mean, it was a little bit me being an idiot." Phantom looked up from where he was breaking a twig of his own off of the branch, a lopsided smile on his face. "Because believe me, a smarter person would've given up much sooner."

The smile fell, and he looked back at the piece of wood. "I guess I just… like to see the good in people. I don't want things to be bad all the time. Everybody deserves a chance to be better, to learn and grow. And besides," he looked back, a grin on his face, and shrugged, "It's not like you could've killed me."

"You say that like it's a _good_ thing." Valerie rolled her eyes. "But, seriously, Phantom. Would you be open for a more permanent truce?"

"A more permanent truce, or an alliance?" He looked up from the twig, his aura bright and his eyes brighter. "Because a truce is, per definition, only temporary."

She huffed. "An alliance, then, smartass. Is that alright with you?"

"Well, let me think about it." Phantom made a faux-thoughtful face, staring skywards and with one finger tapping on his chin. His aura remained bright, though, and steady rather than the flicker Valerie knew meant anger. Then Phantom snapped back to her, a grin on his face. "Val. I would love to be allies with you."

She nodded. Then paused. Thought for a moment. "So, uh. Do we need to do more than that? Should we shake on it or something?"

Phantom barked out a surprised laugh. So surprised, even, that he toppled off of the branch again, although this time he had a leg wrapped around it to catch himself. When he floated back up, he wiped away a (probably non-existent) tear and said, "Nah, unless you want to. Just agreeing to be allies is good enough."

"Oh." She twisted around, her legs now hanging off of the same side of the branch, and rested her left arm on her knees. Her right, she held out to Phantom. "Let's, then. Make it different from the various truces we've had."

"I can live with that," Phantom said as he pushed himself upright. Standing on the branch, he took Valerie's hand in his own. It was cool, but not as cold as most ghosts seemed to be.

"Sorry to break it to you, buddy, but you can't live with anything." As they shook hands, she followed it up with, "To healthier conditions between humans and ghosts."

"And to friendship, no matter the state of living." Phantom grinned as they shook a second time, then released her hand.

"Well, that's a little bold, isn't it." She quirked a brow at him. "Who said I was interested in making friends?"

He rolled his eyes. "Never said it was about you, did I? For your interest, it's actually Jazz Fenton who's been befriending a bunch of ghosts and helping a ton of others with trauma. She already got Ember to quit attacking Amity, and others might be interested as well."

"Wait, really? That works?"

Phantom shrugged, pacing on the branch. "Apparently. Most ghosts are traumatized, either by their life or their death. Jazz came up with the idea to offer to help them, and apparently it's been going well. Really, she's just sitting down with them to listen to them as they talk, but I guess it helps. Plus as a Fenton she has access to plenty of ecto-weaponry, so if any of them lash out she can handle herself."

"Fair enough," Valerie acknowledged. "That's pretty clever, actually. Of course ghosts aren't happy, that's why they became ghosts in the first place, right? So taking care of whatever troubles them makes them less prone to lashing out."

The ghost nodded, stopping in front of her. "Yeah, exactly. And even those who don't cause trouble deserve a little help. She started with Dora, and with Sidney who haunts Casper High. After that she realized she could be helping other ghosts too, and here we are. I got her a Ghost Zone compatible phone, so most ghosts stick with texting and calling her, I think. You'd have to ask her or her parents if you want to know more."

"I mean, it's not really my kind of thing, but I definitely support it, if it works." She opened her mouth to say more, but her phone beeped and buzzed in her pocket. Frowning, she took it out. On the screen a warning showed – her alarm for work.

"Oh, shoot," she exclaimed, scrambling further upright. "I gotta get to my work. Thanks for agreeing to the truce – alliance – Phantom, and see you later!"

She pushed herself off of the branch, her armor expanding around her. Her hoverboard caught her before she hit the ground, and she shot off in the direction of the Nasty Burger.

Faintly, she thought she heard Phantom call after her, "Thank you too! And good luck at your work!"

How could she have ever mistaken him for a malicious being?

* * *

Danny ducked into his room, happy to be away from the mess of his human life. The door was slammed shut, and the lock clicked closed. With a relieved sigh he leaned his back against it, eyes closed and head resting against the hard surface.

Someone in his room cleared their throat, and his eyes snapped open again.

Sitting on his bed was a _girl_. Short, young – younger than him – and completely unfamiliar to him. Long black hair bound in a ponytail, crystalline blue eyes.

He didn't know her. He had never seen her before, he was sure. And yet… yet she seemed very familiar to him. Like he _should_ know her.

"Who are you?" he asked, still pressed against his door.

"I'm Danielle." She dropped the comic she had been holding back on his bed, pushing herself off of it. "I'm your third cousin once removed."

"Okay," he said, reluctantly. "What are you doing in my room? Why have I never seen you before, or heard of you?"

She shrugged. "My parents suck? I ran away from home. Hey, do you have any food?"

"I, personally, don't." He took a step forward, remaining close by the door so she couldn't slip past him. He wanted answers, darnit. "So you're here because you ran away from home, fine. Why are you in _my_ room, specifically?"

"I dunno, it looked cool?" she tried, playing for casual but missing the mark entirely. "I like your space stuff."

"Thanks, assuming that that wasn't a lie like everything else you've said." He crouched a little so he was on her eye level. "Now, Danielle, please tell me why you're _actually_ here. Why do you look so familiar if I've never met you before?"

"I, uh." She glanced towards the window, then suddenly launched forward, trying to dart past Danny. He caught her by the arm, pulling her back towards the center of the room.

"No, stop, lemme go!" she yelled, trying to pull herself loose and throwing kicks in his direction.

Danny opened his mouth to reply – some smart quip, of course – but her arm suddenly turned transparent and slipped through his fingers. Danielle, now no longer held in place, toppled to the floor with a rough tumble, ending further from the door than she'd started.

He stared at her, baffled. She wasn't a ghost – his ghost sense would've picked up on her. So then… was she a half-ghost? Like him, like Vlad?

Was there someone else out there? Someone who wasn't, well, _Vlad_?

And it made sense, now, why she had come _here_. She must be from Dad's side of the family, the side that had all grown up hating ghosts. Hiding her halfa-ness from her family, just like him.

Except that, in a strange twist, _his_ family had gone from the least ghost-friendly Fentons to the _most_ ghost-friendly. And Danielle must've heard, must've hoped it would apply to her too.

But that didn't explain why she was in his room, specifically. Why she looked so familiar, yet completely unknown to him at the same time.

"It's not what you think!" she shouted, scrambling to her feet again. "I swear!"

"So you _don't_ have ghost powers?" he replied, skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "You _didn't_ come here because my family are the most ghost-friendly Fentons, the only ones who openly admitted that they were wrong about ghosts?"

Danielle paused, half-way through standing up. Frowned. Then asked, hesitantly, "Did they really?"

"Isn't that why you're here?" Now Danny was frowning too, looking at her in confusion. "Why else would you come here? How did you even become half ghost?"

"Um." She looked away from him, scuffing her sneakers on the floor. "Actually, I, uh. Came here because of you."

"Me?" he repeated, blinking. "Why me? What's special about me?"

She snorted, shaking her head. "Come on, it's so obvious. Phantom and Fenton? That's barely a change. At least you dropped your first name, but still. And your appearance barely changes, too!"

Danny crossed his arms, staring at her for a few long moments. Waited for her to give up, call it a bluff. When she didn't budge he sighed. "Alright, fine. So you're here because I'm Phantom. Because you were hoping I could, what? Offer guidance? Support? Help you with a ghost-specific problem?"

"No," she answered immediately. Then she paused, seemingly thinking it over for a moment. Amended herself with, "Actually, maybe yes. What do you know about destabilization?"

"Destabilization? Like, a ghost falling apart, back into ectoplasm?" He hummed in thought. "I've heard about it, but it's so rare that I haven't ever seen it. It's from damage to a core, right? When it's not formed properly, or damaged by action or by overexertion?"

The girl nodded, then hesitantly rubbed her neck. "I, um. You wouldn't happen to know a way to solve that, right?"

He stared at her, realization finally striking. The way she had tried to fight him physically, how she had only turned her arm intangible on reflex rather than her whole body. The way she held herself, curled in on herself as if to protect her core.

And he thought of the vial of Ecto-Dejecto he had. Of the effects the concoction had had on the ghosts his parents had tested it on.

"I… might have something, actually." He stepped away from the door, shooting her a wary glance. "Stay there and I'll go grab it."

She nodded energetically, and with an unseen smile, Danny turned to his desk. He ducked underneath it, turned his arm intangible and stuck it into the wall behind his desk.

It was a bit of a search – the vial was small and the wall big – but before long his fingers made contact with the glass. Turning the thing intangible as well, he pulled it out of the wall, looking it over. The slime inside was ecto-green, glowing faintly. The glass was unscathed. Good.

When he crawled out from under his desk, Danielle still stood in the same place. Seeing the vial in his hands, her expression did something complicated, moving somewhere between disgusted and elated.

"I know," he acknowledged, holding up the vial. "It doesn't look great, but you should've seen the effect it had on regular ghosts. I'm not sure it'll help with your core, but at the very least it should give you a crazy power boost. And us half-ghosts, we're resilient, so hopefully that'll be enough to fix your core. Was it ever formed correctly, or…?"

She shook her head, expression growing more sad. "I don't think it was, but it wasn't as bad. As time went on it got worse and worse." Then she narrowed her eyes, growing more determined. "If you think it'll work, I want to try it."

"Alright." He rummaged through his desk, intangibly pulling a needle from the fake bottom of one of the drawers. "Well, I think it's best if we inject it while you're in your ghost form, since it's ectoplasmic in origin. If you're okay with it we can inject it close to your core, otherwise we'll go for your arm."

Danielle's eyes darted from the vial to him to her chest. Then she grimaced. "Let's go for the arm. No offense, but, uh." She gestured at him, then at herself. "Y'know?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "I get it, I get it." Uncapping the vial, he stuck the needle in and sucked the Ecto-Dejecto in. "I'm ready if you are. Just shift, roll up your sleeve if necessary, and I'll inject it."

"Right. Um." She looked at him again, looking notably more worried. "It's just… Never mind. You'll understand when you see it."

"Okay?" Danny replied, uncertainly. Was something weird about her ghost form, that she was so hesitant to show him?

She nodded, once. Then she clenched her fists, raising them up in the air, and pressed her eyes closed. A ring of white light, so similar to Danny's, formed around her waist. It split, two halos creeping past her body.

Seeing it like this, he had to admit that it was pretty cool looking. Also pretty bright, since their rings were white as opposed to Vlad's black, but still. Very neat.

Danielle's belly was bared. That was, admittedly, a little weird. She was like, 12. Why was she wearing an outfit that didn't cover her entire body, especially while partaking in an activity that had gotten her half killed?

Then came the baggy black pants, the fabric shiny in a way that reminded him of his own jumpsuit. As did the skintight top, mostly black but with one side white, a diagonal split between the two. The bottom part of her pants was white too, and her boots, tucked into the loose pants, were white as well.

It wasn't all that spectacular, and he didn't get why she hadn't wanted to show him. Not until the ring crossed her chest, revealing…

Revealing, in stark white, _his_ logo. The DP logo he'd created for his own suit, guided by Sidney and his own desire to make his jumpsuit more superhero-y.

Of course, that wasn't where the transformation ended. The upper ring continued its journey, forming long synthetic sleeves – one black and one white, matching the halves of her top. Her hair turned from black to white, and Danny got the feeling that her eyes would be as green as his own.

Finally, to finish it off, gloves with loose hems formed around her clenched fists. One black and one white, opposite of her sleeves.

She opened her eyes, uncertainty clear in the vivid green. Her aura, already worryingly dim, flickered briefly in anxiety.

"I don't get it," he admitted, slowly reaching out with one hand. When she didn't flinch away, he gently placed it on her shoulder. "But it's okay. We're gonna try to stabilize you first, and then we can talk about this. Okay?"

"Okay," she said with a nod. Sat down on the floor and peeled off one of her gloves, making a face when it immediately dissolved into ectoplasm. He crouched next to her, and together they rolled up the sleeve, one hand each.

"Why are these so annoyingly skin-tight," Danny grunted as he shifted the Ecto-Dejecto to his other hand, so he could use the good one for this. "It's a real pain if you've got injuries, too."

"Seems like a design flaw," she agreed, her mood apparently lightening a little. "You're probably not supposed to get injured while wearing them, though. Damaging them kind of defeats the whole protection thing."

Danny inclined his head, using it to gesture at her bare belly. "And that doesn't?"

"Hey, I didn't design this!" she protested, angrily tugging on the sleeve. "I'm not thrilled with it either!"

"So change it. It's not that hard." With another yank they got the fabric bunched up enough to reveal the crook of her elbow, and Danny nodded his acceptance. "Eh, good enough. But seriously, Danielle, if you don't like your suit you can change it. I can help you with it, if you want."

"That would be… That would be nice." She smiled, shaky and uncertain but genuine. "Um, thanks."

"Of course." He took the needle in his good hand again, placing the empty vial he had used to hold it on the floor. With the now-empty hand he reached out to stabilize Danielle's arm. "Alright, I'm gonna inject this now, okay? I'm not sure what it'll feel like, since I haven't tried it myself, but I'll inject the whole thing in one go. Are you ready?"

She nodded, expression determined. "As ready as I'll ever be."

He set the needle in the crook of her elbow, right against a vein. Then, as gently as he could, he pushed it in. Satisfied that it had found its place, he pressed down on the plunger. Emptied the whole thing into her veins. Hoped that it would work.

Something strange was going on with Danielle, sure, but that didn't mean she deserved the destabilization that was happening to her. That would surely kill her, sooner or later, partly human or not.

Danny removed the needle, carefully putting it down on the floor. Then he sat down next to her, laying his own hand on her gloved one. "Now let's hope it works."

"Yeah, no kidding." She huffed out a laugh, then shivered suddenly. "Brr, it feels kind of strange. Cold, but energetic? Energy-giving? I dunno what the word is, but you get what I mean, right?"

"Invigorating?" Danny guessed. "I understand what you mean, sure. How does your core feel?"

She held out her hands in front of her, repeatedly clenching and unclenching them. "I'm… I dunno. Better, I think? It feels like I've just drunk like 7 energy drinks and gotten the wildest energy rush known to mankind."

Her aura brightened, suddenly, and Danny flinched away from the sudden light. Almost as soon as it came it dampened again, remaining significantly brighter than before. It flickered, wildly varying in strength – but never dipping as low as when she had first shifted.

"Your glow looks good, at least. Still settling in. Maybe it just reached your core?"

"Maybe." Green sparked around Danielle's hands as she formed an ectoblast, then molded it into a ball. She tossed it between her two hands, growing and shrinking it. "Feels good. Very energized. Kinda really want to burn off some of this energy, actually."

Danny laughed. "You sound very hyper, yeah. Hang on, I'll shift too and we can go for a fly. But don't go overboard, we don't want to strain your core if it hasn't fully healed yet."

"Yes sir," she said, throwing him a quick salute. Then she rolled to her feet – literally – and started bouncing on her heels. "Come on, come on."

"I'm coming, I'm coming, calm down." Danny pushed himself upright as well, tapping into his own core to let the cold energy wash over him. "Let's turn invisible to fly out, alright, and then you can drop your invisibility when we're higher up. We might want to try to avoid having people see you, or we would get some weird questions about ghosts and family and stuff."

She nodded rapidly, flickering out of sight. "Alright, I'm invisible, let's go!" Her hand wrapped around Danny's lower arm as she started tugging him to the window.

With a laugh he turned himself invisible as well, twisting his arm to lock his hand with hers instead. "Hey Miss Hyper, calm down a little will you? How's your core feeling anyway?"

"Good, good, good," she said, quickly, as they phased through the wall. "Very good! Better than I've ever felt it!"

"Sounds like it worked, then." They raised further up in the air, and Danny dropped his invisibility. "Hopefully it'll stay that way even when the energy boost wears off."

"Uh huh," Danielle agreed. Then suddenly she tugged her hand out of Danny's and became visible as well. "That would be really cool! And very frustrating, because–"

She snapped her mouth shut suddenly, moving her hands to cover it as well.

Danny stopped his flight, turning to face her. "Because what, Danielle? Is this related to the fact that you look exactly like me? That you're a member of my family that I've never even _heard_ of, before?"

"I–" Her legs melted together, spectral tail twitching. "I'm… Yeah. It kinda is, yeah."

"Explain it to me, then," Danny pleaded, moving closer. When she jerked away he paused. "I want to help, okay? Just tell me what's going on, please."

Her glow flickered, her aura a mess of turbulent energy and even more turbulent emotions. "It's… It's not nice. You won't like it."

"Just _tell_ me," Danny begged, reaching out suddenly to grab her arm. Danielle flinched but didn't try to break free, and calmed when he shifted his grip to hold her hand instead. "Danielle, I promise I'm not mad at you, and I won't be, either. I just want to know. Please?"

Face crumpled, she nodded, clearly distraught. "I'm not… a real half-ghost. I wasn't, um, _born_."

"You were cloned. From me?" It wasn't a hard conclusion to make. She looked almost exactly like him, a little younger and, sure, a girl, but it barely made a difference. That's why she had seemed to familiar – it was like looking in a mirror. "Why? By who?"

"By… By Father. Vlad." She frowned, her fingers twitching where they were interlinked with Danny's. "He wanted me as his child. Or so he said. Always very praising, talking a big talk about his perfect daughter, but I never got to meet anyone. Had to hide so no one knew I existed. And when I started destabilizing like the other clones, which I didn't even know _existed_ before then, suddenly he grew cold. Didn't care as much anymore."

She turned away, staring at the ground far below instead of him. "He told me to go here, to search you out. I had to knock you out, or draw you far enough out that he could get to you, and then he could get a good DNA sample from you. He said that he would use it to stabilize me, but…"

"But I doubt that that's what he would've done with it," Danny finished for her. "And clearly, so do you. He would've used it to make a new clone, one more like me, I bet."

"He didn't care," she agreed, frowning at their linked hands. "He never did, clearly. If he _had_, he would've found a way to stabilize me. I mean, your _parents_ did it! And no offense to your parents, but they only have like half the knowledge of ghosts Vlad has, never mind half-ghosts. But _they_ managed it, somehow, and yet _Vlad_ never did!"

Her fingers dug into Danny's hand, and he used his other to pat it. "Yeah, he's… Well, he's a lot of things, and most of them aren't great."

This startled a laugh out of her, and she loosened her death grip on Danny's hand again. "Yeah, you've got that right." Then she groaned, using her free hand to wipe her eyes. "Ugh, I can't believe I ever saw that man as a father. What a nut."

"No kidding." Danny let go of her hand, instead wrapping his arm around her shoulder, comfortingly. "Here, hey, it's okay. Do you know how long he's been trying to clone me?"

She sniffed, curling a little further into his side. "Not long, I think. I heard him mutter, sometimes, about how aggravating it was to see you get along with your family. Or your dad, at least. That things were going too well, and now he had no chance to draw you to his side."

"That makes sense, yeah." He hummed, listening to how his core hummed along. It was a soothing sound, something that Frostbite had told him about when he admitted that he didn't actually know all that much about ghost cores. A sign of happiness, of content. Rarely heard by anyone not considered close family.

Really, it was just that final bit of confirmation that Danielle really _was_ his family. And never mind that she was his clone, that she was related to him because she was made from his DNA. She was _family_. A little sister.

"Do you have somewhere you can go?" he asked her, knowing that she had calmed down. She was pressed against his chest; whether she knew what the core hum meant or not, it had clearly done its job of soothing her. "Somewhere that isn't Vlad's place? Preferably somewhere were he can't find you to hurt you?"

"No." She sniffled, wiping her hands over her eyes again. "This is the first time I even left Vlad's house."

He hummed an acknowledgment. There weren't a lot of options, honestly. He could bring her to the Ghost Zone, introduce her to his allies, but there was only so much they could do for her. She was part human, and she deserved to live like that, too.

"So… I have an idea. I'm not saying that it's a great one, but they'll be happy to take you in, and I promise you that it'll be a great place."

"What– What would that even be?" she asked, tone subdued. "How can it be a great place and a bad idea at the same time?"

Danny snorted, patting her back. "Well, I was thinking of my parents. Everybody there is cool with ghosts, obviously, I can keep an eye on you, if you need more Ecto-Dejecto they can make more, _and_ Vlad probably won't mess with you if you're close to all of us Fentons. Plus you're technically already part of the family, anyway."

"I thought your parents didn't know about you being Phantom?" She pulled away from him a little, eyes still watery but bright and curious. "Or do you plan to somehow introduce me in human form and have me keep being half-ghost a secret, too?"

"Worst case scenario I'll tell them about me being Phantom, but I don't think it'll be necessary." He shrugged at her incredulous look. "Look, here's what I was thinking, right? We go in our ghost forms. I'll introduce you as my clone, which Plasmius made, except he couldn't get a stable one. So he decided to mix in some _human_ DNA, from a totally unknown source, and tah-dah! Stable clone, except she's part ghost and part human!"

Danielle made a face. "What, and we'll just _imply_ that the human DNA is from Danny Fenton, and not expect them to figure that out?"

"Eh." He waved a hand, dismissively. "Like I said, if they _do_ figure it out then that's okay. But I think we can pull it off."

She shook her head, then nodded. "If you say so. And the reason why Phantom is leaving his clone at the Fentons is because, what, I'm part human so I should live with humans?"

"Well, yeah. All my other allies are ghosts, except the Red Huntress but our alliance is brand new so that doesn't count. And obviously you, as a human being, should live with people who understand your needs better." He shrugged. "Seriously, Danielle, don't worry about it. I promise that it'll be fine, and they'll be really encouraging about it. I'm pretty sure that the only reason why they haven't adopted me yet is because they're trying to get me to tell my actual parents that I'm Phantom, first."

Danielle made a complicated face. "Yeah, alright, I guess I can't argue with that. But if they figure it out it'll be your own fault."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, lil sis." He nudged her with his shoulder, playfully. "Come on, let's start heading back. How does your core feel?"

"Fine. Definitely better." She floated along, quiet for a moment. Then, "Why'd you call me that? Little sister, I mean. I'm just a clone."

"You're family, Danielle." He turned over so he could look at her properly. "I don't care that you were made from my DNA instead of my parents'. And I can assure you that my parents will take you in as their kid, too. Even if, heavens forbid, they won't, that doesn't change that. You're _family_, okay?"

She blinked, quickly, wiping a hand past her suspiciously wet eyes. Then suddenly she shot forward, wrapping her arms around Danny's chest and burrowing her head in the crook of his neck.

"Thank you," she mumbled, barely audible. "_Thank you_."

He laid a hand on her back, gently pressing her closer. "Of course. Just because your origin was bad doesn't mean that _you_ are. You couldn't help any of that."

Danielle nodded, a few stray hairs tickling Danny's cheek as she did so. Then she pulled her head away from him so they could see each other properly, and said, "You don't know how much that means to me."

"I think I've got a pretty good idea," he replied with a laugh, gesturing at her with his free hand. "You ready to head home?"

She brightened even further, her glow spread wide. "_Absolutely_."

They separated, continuing their flight back to the house. It wasn't far, and they had barely progressed when Danielle said, suddenly, "And I was thinking… about a nickname? Danielle is kind of a mouthful, y'know, and it's what Vlad always called me."

"Did you have one in mind?"

"It might be stupid, but…" She laughed, facing him with a grin. "I was thinking about Dani, maybe? With an I."

"Ah yes, the Fenton children. Jazz, Danny, Dani, and Phantom." He chuckled, patting her on the back. "Yeah, sure, why not. If that's what you like, Dani, you go with it."

Her face lit up even further, and she nodded. "Yeah, I do like it. That's what I'm going with. Dani."

Before he could reply, the bright sign of FentonWorks came into sight. They paused, hovering close to it.

"Ready to meet your family, Dani?" Danny asked, turning to face her.

With an elated smile she nodded. "Born ready."

* * *

As I said on Tumblr a few weeks ago, clone angst is _out_, clone fluff is _in_. And with that, our last major-ish character joins the cast! I've also officially finished writing this story, since I finished chapter 12 yesterday! I would also like to point out, for everyone who's worriedly looking at the fact that only 2 chapters remain, that I've never said this was a reveal story. Just a _bonding_ story. ;p

I'm really excited about these last few chapters, and I hope you guys are too! Really digging this one tbh.


	11. Chapter 11

The doorbell rang, and Maddie looked up from the dinner she was preparing, startled. From the corner of her eye she could see Jack do the same, the invention he was tinkering with immediately put down on the table.

"D'you think that that's Phantom?" her husband asked, turning to glance at the clock. "A little late for him, don't you think?"

"He might be in trouble." She put down her knife, glad that she hadn't put anything on the fire yet. "We shouldn't keep him waiting."

Jack nodded, following her towards the front door. "Right you are, Mads."

When she opened the door, she was immediately – instinctively – scanning over Phantom's appearance. Glow was bright but flickering – emotion, maybe, instead of exhaustion – and no ectoplasm stained his suit. No visible injuries, tears, rips.

Then she noticed the ghost hovering next to him, almost identical in appearance, and she blinked in surprise.

"Hi Maddie, Jack," Phantom said, a lopsided smile on his face. "Can we, uh, come in?"

"Of course." She stepped aside, and both ghosts floated in. The other ghost glanced around, green eyes wide with curiosity, which further cemented Maddie's suspicion that this wasn't a duplicate gone wrong. Not that she thought Phantom was capable of duplication, anyway, but he had a tendency to surprise them.

"Who's this?" Jack asked, smiling at the girl ghost. He offered her his hand, and hesitantly, she took it. "I don't think Phantom ever mentioned your name, kiddo."

She glanced from Jack to Phantom, then back again. "I'm, um. Danielle. But call me Dani, please?"

Jack released her hand, instead patting her on the shoulder with his massive hand. "Dani, nice to meet you! I'm Jack, and this is my wife Maddie." He gestured over to her, and she reached out to shake hands with the ghost as well.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said as they shook, smiling at the young ghost. Younger than Phantom even. By a couple years, if she had to guess. And so similar that they must've been siblings. "I didn't know that Phantom had more ghosts in his family, to be honest. He's never spoken of you."

Dani laughed awkwardly, glancing over to Phantom again. The other ghost came to her rescue, nodding towards the living room. "Ah, yes, well. I've got a good explanation for that, and one that maybe… we should sit down for?"

Maddie caught a concerned look from Jack, and silently agreed. To Phantom, she nodded. "Yes, of course. Come, have a seat." She added the last for Dani, gesturing at the couch.

She, herself, sat down on the couch itself, Jack by her side. Phantom and Dani both perched on the armchair, simultaneously, each taking an arm. The two ghosts shared a look, one she couldn't decipher, but she _did_ catch the shrug from Dani and the exasperated eye roll from Phantom.

Definitely siblings.

"So, now that we're all situated…" She leaned forward, hands interlinked, expression patient and open but waiting. "I think we would both like to hear more."

"Right, right." Phantom looked over at his probably-sister, comfortingly patted her on the shoulder, then turned back to her and Jack. "So, basically, the short version is that Plasmius tried to clone me but didn't do a very good job of it."

Maddie felt her jaw drop, and Jack produced a strange noise between a cough and a surprised yelp.

"Excuse me?" she said, already seeing that they were serious – Dani looked seriously uncomfortable, and Phantom was clearly trying to make her feel better despite the circumstances. "But how? _Why_?"

"Because he sucks," Dani mumbled under her breath. More loudly, she added, "He wasn't happy with how well Phantom was doing. He still wanted to train Phantom, but he stood no chance of getting the _actual_ Phantom, so he figured he would make his own."

"Except that that was easier said that done," Phantom continued, picking up the slack for Dani. "No matter how he tried, he couldn't produce a stable ghost, one that could last. So he, uh. Decided to go a little more traditional on how ghosts are formed."

The ghost wrapped an arm around his supposed clone, pulling her against his side. "He decided to use human DNA, too. I'm not sure what he was expecting – maybe that the human side would die and help guide the formation of the ghost? But I do know what ended up happening."

"Well, it must've worked somehow." Jack gestured at the two ghosts perched on the armchair, frowning. "Although he must've done a bad job with the DNA either way, if she ended up a girl."

Dani glanced between Phantom and Maddie and Jack, brow creased. Then she nudged Phantom. "I'll just show them. That's easier, right?"

"Probably," the ghost acknowledged. To the two humans, he said, "Trust me, there's a good reason why I'm confident in saying that things didn't work out as Plasmius expected. And there's also a good reason why we came here."

The clone nodded, pushing off of the chair. Rather than float, however, she settled with her feet set on the floor. She balled her hands into fists, then resolutely raised them in the air.

Maddie was about to ask what she was trying to achieve when a bright spark formed close to the girl's waist. It expanded rapidly, forming a ring of white light around the ghost. One ring became two, slowly splitting apart and moving across Dani's body.

Admittedly intrigued by this, Maddie sat back and watched with a strict eye. The area between the rings, which they had passed over, seemed to change in appearance. Rather than the black-and-white suit which she wore, reminiscent of Phantom's own, an oversized blue hoodie and red shorts appeared. Her bare legs had the same skin tone as her face, that strangely human tint, and eventually blue-and-white sneakers appeared as well.

Then the ring passed over her head, over her scrunched-shut eyes and her hair… and white turned pitch black. A red beanie appeared, but it did little to hide the messy black haircut.

She gasped, and Dani opened wary eyes. _Blue_ eyes.

The girl – ghost? – flinched under the watching eyes of her and Jack, folding in on herself, and Phantom quickly laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay Dani," he soothed, pulling her back onto the chair and against his side. "They're just surprised because they've never seen anything like that before. It's okay, right, Jack, Maddie?"

Startled back to the present, she quickly nodded. "Yes, of course. It's just…" She gestured at Dani, vaguely. "I'm not sure I get it. Is this not just a form of shapeshifting? A little strange, of course, if it's not a power you possess, but–"

"No, no," Phantom cut her off, shaking his head. "She didn't just change on the outside. She became _human_. V- _Plasmius_, he used human DNA, right? And now Dani isn't entirely ghost. She's part human, too."

She frowned, looking over at Jack. Surely that wasn't possible…? They had looked into it before, the possibility of combining living matter and ectoplasm, but they deemed it impossible. One couldn't be alive and dead at the same time. Ectoplasm simply wasn't complex enough to sustain such a thing.

But wasn't Phantom virtually alive, too? With a heartbeat and organs, and a need to breathe and eat and sleep?

"Do you know whose DNA he used for the human side?" Jack asked, seemingly unconcerned by whether or not this was scientifically possible. "To what extent does she resemble you, Phantom? Any traits carried over from when you were alive?"

The ghost started, eyes big and staring at Jack. "Well, um. We don't know where the DNA came from, so. We don't know how much came from the human DNA, and how much might've come from me. We think it might be 50/50, but we can't prove it."

"And I'm not really interested in finding out anyway," Dani confessed with a shrug. Her sneakers thumped against the chair, legs too short to reach the floor from where she was perched on the arm again. "The whole… genetics thing, I don't care about. I wasn't _born_, so as far as I'm concerned, I don't have a _real_ family. A blood family."

Jack snorted, then hummed. "A family doesn't have to be _related_ to be a family. And, the same way, people can be related to you and raise you your whole life and not be your family. It's all about _caring_."

Phantom raised the arm that was wrapped around Dani to ruffle her hair. "And you're still _my_ family, anyway, lil sis. We share DNA, and I care about you, so you're my family twice over."

Her face twisted into a shaky smile, and she shoved Phantom. "So you keep saying."

"I keep saying it because it's true!" the ghost protested, barely holding onto the chair, fingers digging into the plush material. "I called dibs, you're mine now! Don't make me lick you to prove it!"

"Lick me?" Dani repeated with a questioning frown and a smile. "What's that supposed to–"

Phantom lunged, suddenly, wrapping both of his arms around Dani and pulling her against his chest. Then he stuck out his ecto-green tongue, pretending to lick her, before ruffling her hair. "There!" he exclaimed loudly, "Everyone knows that once you've licked food it's yours, so obviously the same rule goes for siblings, right?"

"Ew, dude." Dani made a disgusted face, attempting to grapple Phantom off of her again. "That's disgusting!"

Maddie felt herself smile involuntarily. Jack nudged her, and she looked over to see him grin widely as well.

"Remember when our kids were like that?" he asked, face so bright she wouldn't be surprised if he glowed like a ghost.

"Are you sure these aren't ours too?" From the corner of her eye she watched Dani, her crystalline blue eyes and her roughed-up black hair. The shape of her face, so similar to Phantom and so similar to… to Danny.

Her eyes softened. "Jack, don't you see it as well? They don't know where Dani's human DNA came from, but…"

"You think it's Danny too?" He wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss against her temple. "Well, I'm not opposed to having another kid."

"Phantom is practically ours as well," she agreed, a soft smile on her face as she leaned against her husband. "But we'll have to ask the kids too, honey. Phantom only drops by occasionally, but I won't let Dani do that. She has human needs, and deserves to be raised that way, too."

"Do you really mean that?"

Maddie started, suddenly reminded that Phantom and Dani were there too, and looked over to the two. They had halted in the middle of a fight, Dani sitting on Phantom's chest, her wide blue eyes staring at Maddie.

"Do you really… Are you really saying you want me to stay here?"

"Well… Of course, sweetie." She shifted, and Jack took the silent message and let go of her. Standing up, she crouched down next to Dani. "Phantom is virtually our family. And if you're his family, then you're ours as well."

Dani blinked big watery eyes at her. Then suddenly she sprung forward, her twiggy arms wrapping around Maddie. She stumbled, barely catching the girl, but held her nonetheless.

The couch creaked behind them as Jack got up too, moving closer. He wrapped an arm around the two of them as well, tugging Phantom closer with his other. "We're all a family, Dani, Phantom. Blood-related or not."

She nodded against Maddie's chest, warm in her arms. Her breaths – short and stuttery due to her tears – were hot against Maddie's bare neck.

"Thank you," Dani muttered between sobs, "Thank you, thank you, _thank you_."

Maddie untangled one hand, gently wiping a few tears off of Dani's face. "I don't care where you came from, sweetie. If you'll have us, we would love to be your new family. We'll have to ask our other kids, but they'll be happy to have you, too, I promise."

"If you say so…" Dani fidgeted, shooting a fleeting glance over at Phantom. Catching the underlying meaning, Jack dragged Phantom even closer, one arm slung around the ghost's shoulders. Once he was close enough, Dani dug her fingers into his jumpsuit, pulling him into a proper hug, the two of them sandwiched between her and Jack.

Phantom spluttered, surprised, color fading from his extremities as he instinctively tapped into intangibility. But Dani held on, and once he realized what was happening, Phantom melted into the hug, too. He was cold where Dani was warm, his snowy white hair gently waving on a non-existent wind. But he was no less real for it, soft muscle and sharp bones in a too-lean body.

A green flush spread on Phantom's cheeks, his glow warm and soothing, illuminating the matching red blush on Dani's face. The two of them were curled into each other, with her and Jack's arms wrapped around the both of them, pulled against both of their bodies.

She wasn't sure how long the four of them ended up sitting there. Eventually she became aware of the hum Phantom seemed to emit. The ghost didn't seem aware of it, despite it steadily increasing in volume, but Jack's wide-eyed look suggested that he heard it, too. Felt it, as well.

It was… it was almost like a purr. With his eyes scrunched closed and his face soft and pleased, Phantom looked – and sounded – like a content cat. Did ghosts purr, somehow? Had they simply never noticed before, too occupied to hear the soft sound?

"You're purring again," Dani murmured, voice soft and somewhat sleepy as she nudged Phantom. "It makes my core feel weird."

Phantom's eyes opened as he squinted at her, and the hum quieted. It didn't leave entirely, though, as he protested, "It's not a _purr_. It's just my core humming."

"It sure _sounds_ like a purr." Dani grinned, lopsided. "You sounds like a cat."

Luminescent green eyes opened further just so Phantom could roll them, and he pushed himself slightly further out of the embrace just so he could look at her properly. "It's a _hum_. It's normal for ghosts, in case you didn't know, when they're content and around their family."

"So it _is_ a purr," Jack teased, a faux-thoughtful look on his face. "Like a happy cat."

The ghost gasped, offended, as his gaze swept over to Jack. "Not you too! It's not a purr, it's my core!"

"Are you really upset that we're comparing a phenomenon we're not familiar with to a much-beloved equivalent in cats?" Maddie asked, ruffling Phantom's hair. "A ghost core is strange to us, as is its behavior. The purring of a cat, however…"

He huffed, a childish pout on his face as he crossed his arms. It only lasted for a few moments before he broke out in a laugh, chuckling. "Alright, alright, fine. I'm not mad."

"You almost had me going, kid!" Jack laughed too, clapping Phantom on the shoulder. "I was worried for a sec!"

Maddie watched the three of them laugh, a soft smile on her face too. Then she caught sight of the clock on the far wall and froze.

"What's wrong?" Phantom asked almost immediately, clearly worried. His glow flickered anxiously.

"Nothing, nothing. I just saw how late it was getting," Maddie confessed, starting the arduous task of untangling herself from the pile of limbs. "I barely got started on dinner, and I'll need to make more now. Phantom, sweetie, will you eat along too?"

"I, uh, shouldn't." He made a complicated face, then patted Dani on the shoulder. "You'll be okay without me, right? I'll stick around so you can get introduced to the Fenton kids, but I really should go afterwards."

Dani looked hesitant, but relaxed a little as Phantom explained. She nodded. "Okay, I guess. I can't force you to stay, anyway."

"If you couldn't make it without me I would stay, of course." He nudged her, keeping half an eye on Maddie as she wrestled herself out from in-between the ghost and the half-ghost. "But Maddie and Jack will take care of you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," Dani agreed, expression softening as she looked at the two of them. "Yeah, I know that."

Phantom patted his sister-clone on her shoulder once more, then he lifted in the air. Phased himself out of the pile, which allowed Maddie to pull herself out as well.

Jack, seeing the pile get broken up, pushed himself to his feet as well. "I'll call the kids down, then. Get everyone introduced."

She nodded at him, dusting off her jumpsuit a little. "I'll be in the kitchen. Call me over if you need me for anything."

"Will do," he agreed with a nod, helping Dani to her feet as well. "But I'm sure it'll be alright. We've got some great kids, Mads."

"Even more now that we had before." She smiled over at Phantom and Dani, watching them react simultaneously; both blushed, turning to face away from them. Laughing a little at the identical display, she started making her way to the kitchen.

It didn't take her long to realize she was being followed, and she glanced over her shoulder to see an awkward-looking Phantom. Quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Figured I would see if I could help," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck as he floated after her. "Since I'm kind of responsible for the hold-up, and all that."

"You really don't have to, sweetie. It's not your fault." She paused in front of the pan of already-peeled potatoes, frowning at the crumpled things. Without their skin, they hadn't lasted.

"Maybe not," the ghost acknowledged, "But I feel responsible anyway, and I want to help."

She clicked her tongue, then turned to hand him the pan. "Well, if you insist on helping, get rid of these for me, please. But really, Phantom, it's alright. You can calm that rabid sense of responsibility, I promise."

"No can do." He huffed out a laugh, grinning at her as he moved to the trashcan. "It's an uncontrollable beast."

"That honestly sounds a little worrying." She watched him with a creased brow. "You're just a kid, Phantom. You shouldn't feel responsible for so much stuff. Even what you're doing for Amity Park, it's a little much, isn't it?"

"I'm _fine_, Mom," Phantom groaned. Then he stilled entirely, flushing bright green, staring wide-eyed at her. Embarrassed, apparently, at having called her 'Mom'. Like she and Jack hadn't been telling him for forever that he was basically one of their kids, born to them or not. Maybe if he would _tell his own parents_ he wouldn't go searching for new ones.

But it wasn't like she could just _tell_ him that. He would clam up.

Instead she crossed her arms, stared him down impassively, one brow raised. "Is that so? Because you look a little thin, Phantom, have you been eating properly? Honestly, you're as bad as my son."

Phantom spluttered, pressing his hands against his face but peeking between his fingers to watch her. The white gloves stood out starkly against his flushed-green skin. "_Are you for real_?"

"Oh, I'm for real." She smiled at him, then decided to take mercy and turn away. Instead she started rummaging through the fridge, hoping to find something to warm up – cooking an entirely new meal would take too long. "I feel like he never eats, and I'm not sure why. And you, Phantom, might be busy, but that's no reason to skip meals!"

The ghost continued to sputter behind her, and her grin grew wider. Not that he could see, anyway, since she was still facing the fridge.

Speaking of which, wow, what a sad sight. She definitely needed to do groceries. Might as well take a trip to the mall too, take Dani along so she can buy some more clothes. Her hoodie and shorts certainly _seemed_ like actual human clothes, but Maddie highly doubted that she owned a lot of those. Maybe even nothing besides what she was wearing. And really, that wouldn't do.

She clicked her tongue, straightening up again. But the kitchen was empty – Phantom seemed to have left. Strange. She hadn't heard Dani call for him, but maybe he had left to escape the situation. That, or maybe he had just gone invisible. Really, she had no way to tell.

Instead she wandered over to the living room, pausing in the doorway. Watched her husband sitting on the couch, Dani curled up next to him, with Jazz sitting on the armchair and Danny standing close by. They were all talking animatedly, but Maddie couldn't overhear from where she stood.

They looked happy, though.

* * *

The bellowing voice of her dad startled Jazz into awareness. She blinked, dully, at the open book in front of her. Then she rubbed her eyes, frowned at the clock, and got up. Was dinner done already?

She exited her room, trying to neaten her hair back into her hairband. Made her way down the stairs and saw her dad sitting on the couch, Danny sitting next to him.

Stopped. Looked again.

That wasn't Danny. That was some girl who, for whatever reason, looked _almost exactly like Danny_. What the hell?

"Dad," she finally managed to say, eyes still locked on the girl sitting next to him, "Who is that?"

"Jazzy-Pants!" he cheerily greeted her back, one massive arm curled around the tiny girl. Her black hair was mussed up, looking like it had been subjected to Jack's ruffling several times already. "That's what I was hoping to talk to you and Danny about! Do you know if your brother is coming, too?"

"No clue," she answered, moments before hearing a door slam upstairs. "Oh, no, there he is already. Never mind."

And, as if timed, Danny appeared at the top of the stairs. Looked over from her, standing at the bottom, to the couch with Jack and his female look-alike.

"Huh," he said, eyes darting between all of them again. "That's… huh."

The girl on the couch giggled, but when Jazz looked over at her she buried her face in Jack's side to hide. Hmm. Shy, maybe?

"That's a good way to summarize it, son." Jack grinned brightly, patting the girl on her back. "Come on, have a seat. It's kind of a complicated story."

"Please tell me you didn't accidentally create a new kid in the lab," Jazz muttered darkly, claiming the armchair as hers. "Because while I'm not opposed to having a baby sister, there are more normal ways of acquiring children."

"Well, you're pretty close actually." Jack scratched his cheek, and Jazz felt her brain grind to a halt.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" she snapped, wide eyes darting back to the girl. She really _did_ look suspiciously much like Danny, except younger. Just slightly off. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Pretty sure he was about to tell us," Danny grumbled, pushing her back into the seat. Instead of sitting down as well he simply leaned against the arm of the chair, his own arms crossed. "So if you'll just _settle down_…"

"How are you not _freaked out_ about this?" Her eyes shot between him and Jack and the girl curled against Jack's side. "He just said–"

"That you were _close_, but not entirely right. So let him _talk_, big sis, and he'll explain. Right, Dad?"

"Uh, right." The man in question nodded exuberantly, then ruffled the girl's hair before leaning forward. "So, _yes_, she was created in a lab. But no, _we_ didn't do it nor were we responsible in any way."

"But…" Jazz turned to stare at the girl, meaningfully. "I mean, come on, can you not see the resemblance?"

"A ghost called Plasmius created her. Cloned her, sort of," Jack started to explain, gesturing with his hands. "He tried creating a clone of Phantom, but apparently that didn't work out well. So he used human DNA as well, of an _unknown source_."

"Oh," she said. Next to her, Danny remained silent and still. His gaze was locked on the girl. And Jazz might not know what was going through _his_ head, but she sure knew what was going through her own. The resemblance was uncanny. It was incredibly unlikely that Plasmius could've combined the DNA from Phantom and a random human being that _wasn't_ Danny and ended up with someone _so much_ like him. Right?

Jack cleared his throat, smiling comfortingly. "So, yeah. This is, uh, Danielle. She goes by Dani."

"With an I," the girl – _clone_? – said, speaking up for the first time since Jazz had joined them. "It's Dani with an I."

"But wait." Jazz held up her hand, halting the conversation. "If she's a clone from Phantom, wouldn't she be, I dunno, a ghost? Or at least have like… white hair or green eyes or something?"

"She does," Jack started to say, while Dani simultaneously protested with "I _do_." The two of them paused, turned to look at the other, then shrugged. It was Dani who spoke up again.

"I _do_," she repeated, crossing her arms with a disgruntled huff. "But only in my ghost form. I'm half ghost, but I can shift between which side is more dominant. So now I look human, but I've still got a core, and by triggering it I can become more ghostly, and I'll look more like Phantom."

Beside her, Danny hummed, thoughtfully. She turned her head to quirk a brow at him, but he ignored her to keep looking at Dani. At his sort-of probably clone? Wow, that was weird to consider.

"So… I'm guessing she's here for a reason?" Danny cocked his head at the two on the couch. "Is she just here temporarily, or…?"

"Well," Jack scratched his cheek, grinning sheepishly, "We were kinda hoping you kids were okay with her staying here permanently. Phantom is already basically family, and, well." He gestured at her, and both Jazz and Danny nodded their understanding. "Plus, she's just a child. She needs – _deserves_ – a family, and you can bet that the ghost who created her wasn't planning on giving her one."

A pregnant pause. The idea made sense, at first glance; a ghost who was willing to just _create_ new life like that likely wouldn't make good family, no. But neither did _they_, and it was already hard enough to handle the household with the four of them. Who knew what kind of complications a half-ghost clone could bring?

Before she could say anything, though, Danny blurted out, "I'm alright with it."

"_What_?" Jazz snapped, whirling around to look at him. Danny himself fidgeted under her stare, an uncertain smile on his face. "Danny, no offense, but do you really think that we're the right family for her?"

Dani gasped on the couch, and Jazz turned to look at her again.

"Well, yeah," Danny started to explain himself beside her, forcing Jazz to look away from the sparkling blue eyes on the couch. "I mean, if she's part ghost she should be with ghost experts, right? And we already know Phantom, so. Obviously we're the best family for her."

Jazz blinked at him. "Did you just… Yeah, no, I guess you're right. That makes perfect sense."

"Don't sound so surprised," Danny grumbled, rolling his eyes at her. "I'm not _that_ stupid."

"Sure don't look like it." She shook her head, then turned to look at Dani again. "I guess they both have very good points, so. I'm okay with it too. Dani, if you want, welcome to our family."

"It's a mess," Danny warned dryly, a wide grin on his face as he pushed away from the chair. "This is your first and only warning."

Dani laughed. "I think I'll be alright," she managed in-between giggles. "I've got ghost powers, how bad can it be?"

"Not sure if ghost powers can protect you from ecto-powered food, to be honest." Jazz hummed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Little brother, do you think you can go intangible to avoid getting bitten by the Franken-Weenies?"

"Probably not," he answered with the same tone of faux-thought. "Although if she can shoot ecto-rays on her own power she might be able to fend them off."

Jazz snapped her fingers, turning to point at Dani. "That's perfect! Now we won't have to use a baseball bat if the turkey comes back to life!"

"That was _one_ time!" Jack grumbled, resigned but with a fond tone beneath it. "And so were the hotdogs!"

"Not if you count up all the separate times food came back to life." Jazz quirked a brow at him, and he huffed. "Just because they're different products doesn't take away that it _shouldn't be alive_."

Before they could bicker more, however, Maddie joined them. "Speaking of food, kids, anyone opposed to having pizza today?"

"Hadn't you already started on dinner?" Jazz frowned at her. Sure, the thing with Phantom and Dani had probably taken a while, but surely not _this_ long?

"It kind of wilted away while we were talking with Dani and Phantom," her mother admitted with a sheepish smile. "Besides, we've got something to celebrate, right?"

"I'm okay with it." Danny shrugged, a wide grin on his face. "Pizza is never wrong."

"Boys," Jazz huffed under her breath. Not quiet enough, apparently, based on the soft giggle from Dani on the couch.

Well, would you look at that. She had a good sense of humor, too. Maybe a tad more common sense than the others, too. Wouldn't that be something?

* * *

I can't believe it took me this long to drop the "Phantom accidentally calls Maddie Mom" thing, because that's been waiting since pretty much the start of the fic. Oof. Also, yay, Dani gets adopted into the family! Some more not-Danny POVs!

Also I was moments away from saying that next week's chapter might be short but I just checked and apparently it's 3.5k words anyway? Which to be fair is short considering that most of these chapters have been roughly 5k words but, uh. hm. Anyway last chapter next week, hooray!


	12. Chapter 12

"Duck!" he shouted, firing an ecto-ray right over Valerie's head.

"Phantom!" she bit back, her visor now trained on Danny, and boy was he glad for once that she was wearing a helmet and thus couldn't employ her glare, "I thought we were working together!"

"We are!" He erected a shield to protect the both of them from a shot of their mutual enemy. "Which is why I told you to duck!"

"If we're working together, don't fucking shoot at me!" Valerie snapped, having turned to him entirely. Her armored hands were clenched around the handles of her guns, but in a true testament of their current alliance, she hadn't aimed them at him.

"I didn't aim _at_ you, I aimed _through _you. Duh." He rolled his eyes, shifting his shield to take another hit Valerie hadn't seen coming due to her current distraction. "Also, could we maybe pick this up when we're _not_ in the middle of a fight?"

"Fine." She whirled around and, in one swift movement, fired a shot. It hit Vlad right in the face, dispelling the duplicate. "But only because this ghost is being a huge dick."

He huffed a laugh, grinning at her. "Well, you've got that right, at least." He turned his back to her, knowing she did the same. They peered around, both trying to spot Plasmius himself – or see the next duplicate coming, hopefully.

"You know him, then?" Valerie's armored back met his own. "Any weaknesses, strategies… anything?"

"Well, he's a jerk." Danny shrugged, knowing that Valerie could feel it even if she couldn't see it. "And, uh, he's a jerk? He's strong, with a wide variety of abilities, plans ahead a lot. Easiest way to take him down is to catch him off-guard, either by using a skill you haven't before, or if he gets attacked by someone he had underestimated."

She hummed, a jarring motion that likely meant she nodded. "And you don't happen to have one of those, do you?"

"A new ability, or an ally he underestimated?" Danny's eye caught on a flicker of movement in the air, his ghost sense finally locking on to Vlad's core again. He nudged Valerie to alert her that he'd found their enemy.

"I'm fine with either, really." She twisted subtly, to make sure Vlad hadn't noticed that he had been caught. Quietly, she said, "On 3?"

"Fire from behind me," he answered, equally quiet. "It has a wide area of effect and I don't want to hit you."

"Gotcha." She braced herself, and from this close, Danny could feel the heat of her gun as it prepared a shot. "1. 2."

"3," they counted in sync. Valerie whirled around, following Danny's line of sight with an ecto-blast. Danny himself took a deep breath, and…

Wailed.

Caught right in the middle of the attack, Vlad took the brunt of its power. He had already become visible, which Valerie's shot was responsible for.

Danny kept up the Wail until he saw Vlad wobble in the air; barely hanging onto consciousness. Then he cut the attack off. The last thing he wanted right now was for either of them to shift back to human form.

"_Damn_." Valerie whistled, clearly impressed. "You been holding back on me, Phantom?"

"Yeah," he managed in-between pants. "How's Plasmius?"

"That's a dumb name." She hummed and hawed. "Well, he's still airborne, but I don't think he's in a state to fight." Then she paused. "Actually, no, I take that back. He looks pissed and he's coming this way."

"Oh," was all Danny managed before Vlad hit him at high speeds. The other half-ghost might have stopped the moment he hit Danny, but his momentum was enough to launch him into the street.

Still panting, Danny pushed himself out of the crater he just put into the street. "Hate that guy," he muttered.

"Need a hand, Phantom?"

"Won't say no to that." He took Maddie's hand, letting her pull him to his feet. "Thanks."

"Plasmius giving you a hard time?" Jack asked, joining the two of them. "Even while working with the Red Huntress?"

"Yeah, he's a pain. I thought for sure the Wail would've taken him out, but I guess not." He peeked up, but Valerie was doing an alright job of keeping Plasmius occupied. The Wail must've weakened him significantly, since he wasn't forming any duplicates. "I need something better to catch him off guard."

Both of his parents shared a meaningful glance with each other and then him. He quirked a brow. Then realized what they meant, and a grin formed on his face.

"That could work."

He pushed himself off of the guard, shooting back up to where Valerie and Vlad were fighting. During a quiet moment he burst in-between, bodily pushing Vlad away. "Hey Plasmius! Thought you'd gotten rid of me, huh?"

"That would've been too good to be true," Vlad grunted back, fangs bared in a snarl. "I wouldn't dare get my hopes up."

"Ha ha." Danny floated away from the two, his spectral tail twitching enticingly. He shot Vlad his most infuriatingly cocky grin. "Come and catch me if you can, old man."

Then he dove.

Vlad growled, but followed.

Rather than divert from his plunge towards the ground, Danny turned intangible at the last moment. Vlad, who hadn't noticed how close the ground was due to his proximity to Danny, didn't.

The blue-skinned halfa hit the ground with a meaty thud. He had had just enough time to bring up his arms, but he crumpled into a heap on the street nonetheless.

Danny phased out of the ground right next to him. Crossed his arms and grinned down on the older half-ghost. "What's wrong? Reflexes not as good as they used to be?"

Vlad lunged forward, black glove grasping for Danny's leg. He jumped back, barely dodging the digits. "Aw, come on, that's not nice."

"Would you _stop_," Vlad hissed back, using his other arm to push himself up slightly. "You're _infuriating_."

"And _you_ are not going anywhere." A large ectogun pressed against Vlad's back, pinning him back onto the street. Danny knew that it had loaded a shot, the heat warning Vlad that he couldn't make an intangible escape. "So don't try, _Plasmius_."

And he didn't. Vlad flattened himself against the ground, empty red eyes cast upwards to search for Maddie's. The only thing he found were her unfriendly red goggles.

"Ah," he tried, but she shoved the gun down harder and he quietened.

"Good ghost," she said flatly. "Now stay down, and we won't have to make a bigger mess, will we?"

"So here's how this is gonna go." Danny crouched down next to him, resting his elbows on his knees. "You're gonna apologize. To me, to Maddie, to Jack, and yes, to Dani. And then, if we think you've done well, we're gonna let you go leave. Got it?"

"And if you decide I _didn't_ do a good enough job?" Vlad's eyes narrowed. "Or if I refuse to apologize to the molten remains of the failed little clone?"

"Who are you calling molten?" Dani came into visibility, her mismatched gloves balled into fists. "Just because _you_ were too incompetent to save me didn't mean it wasn't possible!"

Then she leaned down, face held close to Vlad's. Her glowing green eyes boring into his wide red ones. "But you never cared, _did you_? I wasn't who you wanted me to be, so all I was to you was a _pawn_."

"D- Danielle," Vlad spluttered, pressing even further into the ground. "It wasn't- I didn't-"

"Oh, come of it." She huffed, straightening back up again so she loomed over Vlad's downed form. "If it's not an apology, I don't want to hear it."

Vlad stiffened, muscles tensing. Then, suddenly, he snarled, "Then you'll be a long time waiting."

And before anyone could react, he blasted the ecto-gun away from him. Both Danny and Dani formed balls of coiling ectoplasm to hit him back, but Vlad didn't engage further. He simply dove through the ground, intangibly speeding away from them.

"Well, that could've gone better," Danny muttered as he extinguished his ectoblast again. His ghost sense confirmed that Vlad had left entirely. No duplicates or anything. "Jerk."

"Could've gone worse, too," Dani pointed out with a shrug. "At least I got to tell him off. You're not hurt, right, Mom?"

"I'm fine sweetie, he only hit the gun." Maddie ducked to pick the ecto-gun up, frowning at the molten front. "The gun is toast, however. He clearly didn't hold back like Phantom did."

"Everything alright over here?" A metallic noise as Valerie's boots hit the ground, the girl joining the rest of them on the ground. "I thought you guys had it under control, but it seems he got away anyway."

"He's slippery like that." Danny scratched his cheek, then inclined his head to indicate Dani. "Ah, by the way, Red? This is Danielle, Dani for short. She's my, um." He frowned, pausing to look over at her. "Little sister slash clone? Half-clone? Is that a thing?"

Dani simply shrugged. "Sort-of clone? Big oopsie?"

"I'll go with little sister." Turning back to look at Valerie, he gestured at Dani. "Anyway, like I said. This is Dani, my little sister who Plasmius created and then tried to turn against me. Dani, this is the Red Huntress."

"Hi." Dani finally offered her hand to Val, who hesitantly took it. And who was probably making a very confused face behind her helmet. "Nice to meet you. Phantom has said good things about you."

"Has he?" They shook hands, and Valerie tilted her helmet at Danny. He had the feeling she was making an intrigued expression at him, one brow quirked. "I'm flattered, Phantom, but I'm also not interested."

Danny rolled his eyes at her, stubbornly ignoring the bright green blush that found its way to his face. "Alright, so this was the last time I complimented your ghost hunting skills, got it."

Valerie swatted at him, but he simply flickered intangible to let her hand pass through him. "Funny, aren't you?"

"Hell yeah I am!" Confident that the blush had by now gone away entirely, Danny let himself become tangible again. "I mean, have you ever heard my puns? Comedic gold, I tell you."

A clatter sounded behind them, and all three whirled around in perfect sync. Cowering under the sudden attention of two potentially volatile ghosts and an equally volatile ghost hunter stood a now-wilting civilian.

"Oh," Danny said sheepishly, relaxing his tense posture again. "Sorry, you startled us."

"That's… my bad," the man answered, slowly. He twisted his head strangely, as if trying to peek past Danny. Probably was, he realized, since Dani was mostly hidden behind him and Valerie. "I just… I had to ask, Red Huntress, you've been seen working with Phantom quite often recently. Has something… changed?"

Valerie tilted her head, the helmet moving as if she was glancing between Danny and the man. "Yes," she finally decided on. "Yes, I recently discovered that I based my initial judgment of Phantom on… misinformation. And all information gained later, I twisted to fit my biased view."

"So he's not bad?" The man frowned, glancing between her and Danny. "But what about the robberies? The kidnapping of the mayor? The damages?"

"Oh, not _again_," Danny groaned, pressing his hands to his face. "The damages are caused by the attacking ghosts. Just imagine how much worse it would be if no one stopped them. The robberies, I was controlled for. Red can vouch for me, she saw. The mayor, he was overshadowed, and _he_ grabbed _me_, not the other way around."

The man narrowed his eyes, eyes darting back to Valerie. "And you're sure this is true? That he can be trusted?"

"Well, yeah, obviously." She shrugged, drumming her metal-covered fingers against the armor plates on her thigh. "I mean, I believe him, the Fentons believe him. What else do you want?"

"I suppose that that's fair." He seemed to study Danny, his eyes restless. Still trying to spot Dani, probably. "I guess the teens were right all along, then."

"Uh huh." Danny nodded, dragging his hands off of his face and instead using one to support his chin. "Maybe if you guys had bothered to ask before, I could've explain myself sooner. But hey, you do you."

"Right…" The man made a face, something close to a grimace, but not entirely. He cleared his throat, seemingly awkward, then shuffled off. "I, uh, better get going. Thanks for the talk, Phantom, Red Huntress."

"See ya," Val said, giving him a short salute. Danny gave him a single short wave instead.

Once he was out of earshot, Danny huffed. "Really, can't be bothered to ask me until the ghost hunters work with you. Then suddenly I can obviously be trusted and oh, what caused this sudden change?"

"Shouldn't have blown your reputation so badly, bro." Dani leaned over his shoulder, grinning widely. "It's obviously all your own fault, duh."

"You're the worst," he told her without heat. "If I had known little sisters were such a pain I never would've taken you."

"No take-backsies." She flipped over his shoulder, floating in front of him and Valerie instead. "Hey, where's Mom and Dad?"

At this, Danny twisted around to look behind him. Indeed, both of their parents seemed to have disappeared. Must've wandered off before the man stopped to interrogate him, otherwise they probably would've gotten involved. "Looks like the Fentons wandered off, Dani. You want to go track them down, or should I just drop you back off at FentonWorks?"

"Wow, wait, hold on." Valerie held up her hand, her eyes quickly jumping between Danny and Dani. "Why did she call Mr. and Mrs. Fentons 'Mom and Dad'?"

"Okay, so… she may or may not be living with the Fentons." He scratched his cheek, shooting Valerie an uncertain smile. "And I guess that since she has no birth parents, Maddie and Jack count? Is that right, Dani?"

"Yeah, pretty much." The girl in question shrugged listlessly. It seemed like she wasn't paying attention, her bright eyes looking around instead. "They kind of insisted, really. Not that I mind, but still. Jazz said it was a good idea, too."

"Huh." Valerie paused, and now Danny started to regret not being able to see her facial expressions. "So… _why_ are you living with the Fentons? I mean, Phantom doesn't, right? Are there health concerns, or something, because you're a clone?"

Dani zipped off, suddenly, and Danny sighed and answered in her stead. "Sorry for that. She might be cloned to be, like, 12, but in some ways she's only a few months old. As for your question, kind of?"

"You _kind of_ live with the Fentons?" Valerie asked incredulously.

"No." Danny heaved another sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "There health concerns, sort of. You remember how, earlier, I referred to Dani as my half-clone, or partial clone? It's because she's only partly based on _my_ DNA. About 50% come from an unknown human. So she has human needs and stuff."

"Oh." Valerie twisted, looking in the direction that Dani had left in. "But she looks just like you. Well, except younger and female, but you know what I mean. Are they just gonna adopt her, or something?"

"Well, that too." He scuffed his boot on the ground, aware of his depleting energy levels. He couldn't keep this up forever, unfortunately. "But she can shift into a more human appearance, too. I think the Fentons really attached themselves to said human form, since she looks a lot like their son like that. Black hair, blue eyes, kinda similar facial structure?"

He blew out a breath, hoping no one would catch on. It wouldn't be the worst, but he really didn't want to deal with all that just yet. "I think they might think that the human DNA Plasmius grabbed might have been from their son, actually. You'd have to ask, because I certainly didn't. Either way, they decided to pick her up as their own kid, and, well. I'm happy for Dani. She deserves it."

"Hmm. She seems like a good kid, yeah."

They both watched Dani appear again, now in human form, dragging both adult Fentons behind her. She seemed to be chattering up a storm, both parents smiling and responding back.

"I gotta get going, Phantom. It was nice talking to you. Say hi to your sister for me, will you?" Valerie waved him a goodbye as her hoverboard reformed. Before he knew it she was gone, and Dani filled up the empty spot, excitedly waving at their parents.

"Tah-dah, found them again!"

He grinned, patting her on the head. "Good job, Dani."

"Thanks!" She bounced lightly, eyes darting between him and their parents. She nudged Jack, then Maddie. "Come on, tell him!"

"Tell me what?" Danny asked, cautiously. A mild frown formed on his face as he looked at his parents, too.

Said parents exchanged a glance, as if fighting to decide who would take point. Maddie cleared her throat, having apparently been decided on as the winner. Or loser?

"Well, you see, Phantom…"

"We want to adopt you too!" blurted Jack before she could say more.

Danny felt himself still. Stood still like a statue. Then…

"What?!"

Maddie glared at Jack, elbowing him in the side. When she turned back to Danny, her expression had grown friendly again. "Well, you see… You're like a son to us, Phantom. And we're already adopting Dani, right? So you're basically family already."

He relaxed a little at this. Really, he should've caught on sooner. They specifically said 'adopt', so they hadn't figured him out yet.

Which, really, was kind of ridiculous. But hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, and all that.

"Oh," he said, realizing that he had remained silent too long. "Um, well, I mean. I kind of already have parents already, you know?"

"But you refuse to tell them about you being Phantom," Dani pointed out, a wide grin on her face. The little devil must've known all along, darn her. She was _enjoying_ this. "So maybe _you_ have parents, but _Phantom_ doesn't."

Danny shot her a glare, his aura flaring slightly. She just stuck out her tongue in response.

"Phantom, you don't _have_ to accept, it's just…" Jack paused, ruffling Dani's hair as if doing so would help settle his nerves. "You're like a son to me, and to Maddie. Clearly you see us that way too, since just recently you called Mads 'Mom'. You're Dani's big brother, and Jazz cares about you as well. Danny…"

He sighed, slumping in slightly. "Well, I don't know what is up between you and Danny, but he's not opposed to you at least. We just… Maybe we're going about this the wrong way, but…"

"I mean, it's really nice and all, but." But what, Fenton? How're you gonna talk your way out of this, huh? Let's just go and blurt out the truth, hmm? "But, um. No offense to you guys, because you're great and all, but you're not– It's–"

Danny groaned, burrowing his face in his hands again. He continued, now muffled, "It just feels like replacing my own parents, you know? And I don't want that, so. So I really can't accept."

Both of his parents looked thoughtful at this. Dani, who had clambered onto Jack in the meantime, nodded appreciatively. Must be impressed by his skill at digging his way out this hole, he supposed. Or his skill at digging himself _further_ into the hole.

Jack heaved a big sigh, but nodded. "I see, kiddo. But in that case, I have to insist that either you tell your own family soon, or you'll have to come by more often so we can care for you, too."

"Well, I–"

"No, I agree with him, Phantom." His mom crossed her arms, settling her strongest Maternal Glare on him. "You can't keep them in the dark like this. It's not good for a kid your age to be without parents, and if you won't accept replacements, you should have your own."

Dani nodded, now to agree with Maddie, still smiling. Thus outnumbered, Danny groaned and ducked his head.

"Fine," he sighed finally, knowing he couldn't drag this discussion out much longer. Not without risking a shift back.

Which, to be honest, _would_ end the discussion very quickly. But not in the right way.

"Fine, I'll tell them soon, okay?"

"Promise me," his mother insisted, back still ramrod straight. "We're serious about this, Phantom."

"Ugh, fine." He lifted up a hand, crossing his heart – and his core. "Cross my heart and hope to die. I'll tell my family about who I am soon, okay?"

"Okay." She patted him on the head, and he grumbled but couldn't help the spot of affection. "And if anything goes wrong, tell us and we'll put them in their place, okay sweetie?"

He cheered himself up with the brief mental image of his parents chasing down themselves. Plastered a smile on his face as he said, "I'm sure it'll be fine. Things have been better lately. See you soon?"

"You're always welcome, kiddo!" His dad slapped him on the shoulder, almost toppling Danny over. "Stay safe!"

"You too!" Danny replied, lifting up from the ground.

"And tell your parents!" his mom yelled after him when he left.

Yeah, right. He would have to, sooner or later. Now especially. He wasn't looking forward to it.

But it would be okay. That much he knew.

* * *

And so it ends, after a solid 60k words and 12 chapters! And, indeed, no reveal! I knew, from the start, that I wasn't going to write a reveal in this story. I just wanted to focus on that bonding between Danny (as Phantom) and his parents, and I felt that a reveal would detract from that. And there are so many ways it could've happened in this AU, so many people who a reveal would've had to focus on. So, yeah. I've got no 'canon' reveal situation in mind yet, but tons of ideas on how it could (or could have) happened. So maybe, one day, I'll write a third part to the series, and _then _the reveal will happen. But that will be its own story, and one that will come much later, since I've got other stories that I want to write for now. (and yes I know that the explanation that Danny and Dani gave for the whole half-ghost thing is dumb, but come on, tell me that these characters wouldn't far for it, at least at first)

The not-reveal aside, I did kind of expand this chapter to fit in that last bit of fluff, haha. It was originally going to end after the "What?!", but I couldn't withstand the temptation of a little more bonding AND the very subtle sequel hook.

On a weekly-update note, this was obviously the end of WaNS. Starting next Saturday, I'll start posting Play Your Part, another AU DP fanfic. It'll be closer to hurt/comfort, I think, but with a heavy emphasis on the comfort (and getting stronger as the fic progresses, of course). So get excited for that, too!


End file.
